How It Happened
by WillowWitch
Summary: Noah and Cody got together after Total Drama Island... But how did this happen? I'LL TELL YOU HOW! Read the story and find out! Rated T for violence in later chapters!
1. How They Met

Disclaimer: Don't own Total Drama Island or anything else in this fic! You can also read this story on my Deviantart account Kiku-No-Hoshi-XD!

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Noah, a contestant on the hottest TV Reality show "Total Drama Island", was known for being a lazy, sarcastic, game-loving, and overly rude know-it-all. Always reading in the library or playing games, Noah never really did go out much other than going to school. Always pushing his nose into a book and avoiding the real world, he never did make many friends… And his family never really supported him in anything, as his other eight siblings would usually attempt to pick on him…

…You could say he was a little lonely…

However, he always avoided people, growing up thinking that everyone would treat him the way his siblings did. His own parents even questioned his social life sometimes… They had been pleased to have at least ONE member of the family become a genius, yet, not so comfortable with how his personality grew to become. Who would've thought that their ninth son would grow to become a genius, yet, grow such a huge ego? It wasn't something to be completely pleased about… Yet, every time someone confronted him about it, his response would always be the same… Even when one of his roommates at Camp Wawanakwa asked him about it once…

"Friends? Who needs them when you've got a brain like mine?"

"Wait, so you don't have ANY friends?" asked Cody, a young dorky looking teenager, yet, with an adorable face who looked somewhat surprised by this sudden information.

"No" he muttered.

"Wow, dude… That's tough…" replied Cody, scratching his head, then snapping his fingers. "Hey, why don't WE become friends? We can be hommies! Brotha's! Partners in crime-"

"Okay, stop right there" snapped Noah, turning from his stuff on his new bed to glare at the wanna-be teenager in front of him. "I don't want to be friends with you, or anyone else here. I just want to win, and that's what I'm gonna do. I don't need a nuisance like you to distract m from this one goal. If you'll excuse me, I've still got stuff to unpack. I'll be getting to it"

Cody stood there speechless at the harshness of Noah's voice, a little hurt. Noah, however, had turned around ages ago to continue his unpacking. Trent, who had been there watching as he unpacked his stuff as well, decided to break the ice.

"Whoa, chill there, guys. We're all here to win, but there's no reason why we can't get along at the same time, right?" asked Trent, and Owen seemed to agree with this.

"Yeah! We can all get along! Let's all be pure adults!" he said.

"I can work with that, dude!" said Cody, giving high fives to Owen and Trent, but Noah refused to return the kind gesture.

"No, thanks" said Noah.

"Dude, what's eatin' ya?" asked Owen, getting somewhat annoyed with his attitude, but before anyone could say anything, he let out a noticeably loud and smelly fart, making all his roommates cough and gag. Noah was completely about to lose it by now.

"You know what, forget this!" he said, throwing his stuff on his bed and grabbing a book from it. "I'm going _outside_ to read. You know, where the _FRESH_ air is!?"

Without another word being said, he stormed out, leaving Cody, Owen, and Trent by themselves in the horrendously smelling room. However, before anything more could be said, Justin (McHottie) walked into the room, taking off his glasses and smiling, letting the sun shine on his sparkling teeth. The fumes immediately left the room, as if welcoming his presence. (LOLZ!! 8D)

"Hey, there, dude!" greeted Cody, holding up a high five for Justin, which he returned with pleasure.

"Hey, thanks, man. Dunno how much longer I could've stayed in here!" said Trent, also giving him a high five.

"Sorry guys. I'll give ya a warning next tim- YAAAAGHHH!!" shouted Owen, tripping over a rock (seriously, who cleans up this place? :x) in their room and landing on Noah's bed, scattering all his stuff on the floor, including a blue book that was most DEFINITELY not a reading book. Out of curiosity (and fear of Noah's reaction to his stuff being on the floor), Cody picked up the book and looked inside of it.

"Ugh… Sorry, guys" said Owen dizzily as Trent helped him up.

"Hey, guys! Check this out! Noah's got a journal!" said Cody reading further into his new favorite book.

"Um, man, I don't think it's a good idea to get into his stuff…" started Trent, but Cody was too fascinated by the book to notice.

"Hey, he's got eight siblings! Wow, can't believe there's a family in the WORLD that big!" said Cody, slapping his forehead in amazement.

"Dudes, this guy also has weird boxers!" said Owen, lifting up a pair of boxers with the Nintendo 'N' print all over it. Trent was definitely bothered by this now.

"Guys, seriously, can we just put his stuff back, now?" Trent insisted, noticing a look on Justin's face that said someone was coming. Looking outside, he saw that it was Noah coming back looking like he was swatting at flies. Wow, this wasn't looking good right now…

"Uh, guys…"

"What?" asked Owen, looking out a nearby window, seeing what Trent saw. "GREAT GROVERS OF GELLATIN!!!" (ROFL XD)

Trent and Justin had given the large teenager a strange look, yet, remembering the situation they were in, and scrambled all around the room, picking up various items that had fallen out of Noah's bags… However, Cody, who was still engrossed in Noah's journal, had not noticed the worried antics of he other boys. When they had finally finished, everyone had completely forgotten about the book in Cody's hands. Noah walked into the room, still swatting at flies.

"I need mosquito repellent" he said simply, heading straight for his bag. However, much to the other's fright, he noticed that his bag was unorganized and completely messy, indicating that someone was digging through it. He looked at the other four suspiciously until his eyes cam across a familiar blue book that was in the hands of a certain nuisance teenager.

His mood darkening, he walked over to Cody and snatched the book out of his hands, much to the other's surprise. By now, Trent had slapped himself on the forehead and Owen sighed.

"May I ask why my bag is messy and WHY my book was in YOUR hands?" Noah asked sharply.

Luckily for Cody, Trent wasn't the type of person to let all the blame be placed on one person.

"Look, man, Owen had tripped on that rock over there and landed on your bed on accident. You stuff got on the floor and we tried to clean it up for you" explained Trent, making Noah raise an eyebrow.

"That doesn't explain why my book was in HIS hands" snapped Noah towards Cody, who flinched.

"It was purely accident, we swear! And he didn't read much!" said Owen, defending Cody as much as Trent had, along with Justin, who nodded.

Noah, who had not been entirely convinced, had turned around and walked towards his bag. However, like Owen before him, he had tripped over the same rock and fell on his bed, causing his bag to topple and fall on the ground again, his stuff scattering on the floor… He grunted loudly in complete frustration, quickly trying to grab everything that had been originally in the bag.

Cody, feeling somewhat bad for him, walked over and helped him pick his stuff up, his hand landing on Noah's while trying to grab his towel. They looked at each other, and both drew their hands back, looking at the other oddly.

"What're you doing?" he asked, awkwardly.

"I was… just helping…" he said, and before Noah could speak, he continued. "You know, I like videogames, too!… I'd like to know what you've played! You must be really good at them… and… I really AM sorry about the journal…" he smiled, revealing the gap in his teeth.

Noah stared at him. A compliment? About games? From someone _OTHER_ than a person online? _AND_ an apology? It was impossible. No way could someone actually be being nice to him… right? His own family never paid any positive attention to him. With his parents always busy trying to pay off someone's college funds, and the rest of them trying to pick on him, no one was really ever nice to him. You could say he even learned to talk to others the way they did to him. Pretty much the reason why he never got along with anyone… But somehow, this was different…

He thought it was a joke at first, but looking at his face, he already knew this guy wasn't a liar. Besides, it would be considered 'cool' to make fun of the lower standard people. Even with his incredibly high IQ, Noah was not considered one of the coolest guys around, but he did observe them well enough to know their ways of life. And this guy, was definitely not one of them and he definitely wasn't making fun of him, either… Taking a deep breath, and losing all anger in him, he spoke…

"… Thanks…" he muttered, surprisingly without any malice. Completely forgetting that his stuff was on the floor and quickly walking out of the room, hiding his face.

Cody had stayed behind picking the rest of the stuff up after a few minutes of shock recovery. Trent, Justin, and Owen looked after him with a little bit of confusion, but Owen patted Cody on the back as a way of saying 'good job'. Trent and Justin merely gave him a thumbs up, which he returned gladly, with the relief of somewhat not being on Noah's bad side on their first day.

Noah, on the other hand, had walked to the Dock of Shame, sitting and staring at the sky. Usually, he'd have a book with him to read, but right now, there was something more important at hand…

… He had to get this blush off his face…

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	2. How They Talked

Disclaimer: Don't own Total Drama Island. Nothing but the idea of this story!

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Cody had been completely ready for the first day's challenge, not that the encounter with Noah helped out very much, but it was all good! He had been walking up a hill with the other campers when their host, Chris told them to change into swimwear and meet him by the woods. There had been a trail for them to walk to, and they were now all headed to their unknown destination.

"I wonder if we're going to find some kind of oasis or something!" Owen said, excitedly.

"An oasis is an isolated area of vegetation in a DESERT. Not likely that we'll be finding one"

Oh, yeah… Noah wasn't exactly happy about hiking in his swim shorts… He made sure to let the other campers know that. It's not like he made the situation any better, but it was only the first challenge! Like the big dark guy who's name Cody never got, yet had said! How bad can the first challenge be when it's their first day? Boy, did he wish he never asked…

Now, they had been standing on a cliff that looked about 1,000 feet off the ground AT LEAST! In their swim shorts! Were they expected to jump off this cliff? What was this crazy kook of a host THINKING!? Couldn't they DIE from this?! He completely missed the first thing Chris said with these thoughts…

"… Your first task is to jump off this 1,000 foot high cliff into the lake!" he said. What bothered Cody was the fact that he said it as if it were nothing to be worried about… Some people actually seemed to be unfazed by this challenge, though.

"Piece of cake!" noted a blonde girl from the Killer Bass team.

Oh, did he forget to mention that all twenty-two campers were divided into teams? He was on the Screaming Gophers team with his fellow roommates Trent, Owen, Justin, and…

…Noah…

Along with them, they were with Leshawna (Who scared him in some ways, but was okay), Heather (who ULTIMATELY scared him), Katie (She was hot!… But that BFFFL thing with Sadie was kinda weird…), Lindsay (MAN, was SHE HOT!!… But stupid), Gwen (She was really cool. He didn't mind trying for her), and Beth (…No comment…). So far, they seemed to be a pretty good team. From the first sight of them anyway… That's beside the point, though. Back to the story.

"If you look down, you will see two target areas! The wider area represents the part of the lake that we have stocked with PSYCHOTIC - heh heh- MANEATING SHARKS!"

… He was absolutely crazy… At least, that's what Cody was starting to think as he continued.

"Inside that area is a safe zone! And that's YOUR target area, which… we're PRETTY sure is shark free!"With that said, the two people next to him, which were that scary, boyish Killer Bass team member Eva, and his roommate Noah, had cringed and raised an eyebrow at the words 'PRETTY SURE'. The other campers were definitely not taking this too well, either.

"For each member of your team that jumps, and actually SUREVIVES" he paused, while everyone cringed once again. "There will be a crate of supplies waiting below. Inside each crate, are supplies that you'll need for the second part of the challenge! Building… a HOT TUB! The team with the best one gets to have a WICKED HOT TUB PARTY TONIGHT!"A party? Cody was definitely down for that! Chris continued.

"The losers… will be sending someone home!"

… Okay, he wasn't down for THAT…

"Let's see… Killer Bass, you're up first!" he said, and the Killer Bass team seemed to stall for a moment, but a few minutes later, everyone but the big dark guy and the irritating brunette jumped, and were forced to wear some stupid hat resembling a chicken! It made Cody chuckle a bit as Chris 'clucked' the two as they went the chicken way down.

While Cody looked down from the cliff, he thought about what Owen said before the Killer Bass team took the plunge. Something about the interns doing it to make sure it's safe…? It made Cody feel a LITTLE better… Getting the sinking feeling in his stomach… a little… Ugh, he had to stop thinking, already. The other thing the irritating brunette said bothered him, though. The thing about none of the Screaming Gophers being able to jump…? He was sure his teammates weren't going to take that well…

Something interesting happened, though. They lost Katie and got Izzy on their team, since Sadie from the other team wouldn't jump without the other… It was still creepy, but ever since Izzy's arrival to the island, she wasn't really anymore normal then they were to Cody…

When he thought about best friends, his thoughts drifted back to Noah, who had been standing a few feet away from him, staring off into space. He wondered if it was hard watching Katie and Sadie when he had no friends himself… The guy really could've opened up to him, but…

Wait a minute! What was he SAYING? He read Noah's JOURNAL, after all!… Not that finding out how much of jerks his siblings were to him made anything better… And how much his parents had to work was… It made him wonder how much harder he himself would've had it if his dad weren't around, and the thought made him a little depressed. It didn't matter, they were interrupted when a cat fight seemed to be starting between Heather and Leshawna.

"Oh, you're doing it!" said Leshawna with that attitude that somewhat scared Cody.

"Says _who_?" asked Heather, with the same venom in her voice as Leshawna's had.

"Says _me_! I'm not losing this challenge cuz you got yo _head_ wet, you spoiled, little _Daddy's girl_!"

Wow. This was getting a little outta hand. He looked at everyone else and noticed some of them were backing away from the upcoming cat fight. However, when he looked at Noah, his face changed to a look of surprise to see that Noah's face was perfectly unfazed. Heck, the guy was even _SMIRKING_! That's a bit… disturbing…

"Back off, _ghetto-glamour_, too-tight pants wearing, rap star _wanna-be_!" snapped Heather.

…Cody was definitely not liking this! It seemed that no one else was liking it, either! … Well, except Noah, but probably because he couldn't stand Heather like many of the other campers here, and Cody assumed that he was glad SOMEONE stood up to her… That was only a prediction anyway…

"Mall-shopping, ponytail-wearing, teen-girl reading, peeking at _high school prom queen_!"

Silence.

"Well, at least I'm _POPULAR_"

Oh. Snap.

She did _NOT_ go there… Cody walked to Noah's side by this time, noticing his smirk at the intense scene before them. It really made Cody question Noah's ways, but figured that sixteen years of eight older abusive siblings would do that to a person… It kinda interested him. Maybe Noah really _DID_ need a friend… He figured someone will probably kill him if he keeps acting the way he does towards other people. Mainly Heather or Leshawna…

"YOU'RE_ JUMPING_!" shouted Leshawna, obviously ticked off by now.

"_MAKE_ ME!!" Heather shouted back.

Bad choice.

Leshawna had picked her up, and threw her over the cliff, and to everyone's surprise, Heather had landed in the safe zone. Leshawna had jumped in straight afterwards, along with Lindsay and Gwen… Everyone seemed too scared to have to face Leshawna's wrath if they didn't jump in. Especially Cody. Taking a REALLY deep breath, he looked at the water and wondered if Noah would do it. He looked and saw that Noah was watching him…

Great, he HAD to do it now, or he'd have to face Noah, too, rather than just Leshawna. Taking another deep breath, he took a running start and was off… And immediately regretting it. He was falling so fast he was losing his mind from the fear. He tried kicking and waving his arms as if it would help slow down the momentum his body had when heading for the lake. Finally, after what seemed like a few moments of his life flashing before his eyes, he had hit the water. Coming up for air, he saw the boat that would bring him back to the shore, and rode waited on it with satisfaction… and possibly the loss of his sanity…

He looked up as Izzy and Justin took the plunge. Justin landed in the wider target area, but oddly enough, the sharks didn't eat him, rather they brought him back to shore… He noticed that Beth didn't take the plunge and was wearing the chicken hat. She shouted an apology, but he and Leshawna chose to make clucking sounds at her. Normally, he wouldn't have, but actually taking the plunge might've given him some confidence. Enough to tease others that didn't go through with the challenge.

He looked up again as Trent came crashing into the water. Coming back up and cheering for his victory of being able to do it. There were only two people left, and they were Noah and Owen. He looked up and Noah looked somewhat unsure… He watched as Noah did what he'd done and took a couple of breaths before running and jumping off.

Cody watched in suspense as he hoped for him to make the safe zone and not get eaten by the 'psychotic, man-eating sharks'. Finally, after what seemed to be like ANOTHER few moments, Noah hit the water, and it had been in the safe zone. Cody sighed in relief as he watched from the shore. However, he was so busy thinking about how Noah was okay that he didn't notice Owen coming down from the cliff, causing the MASSIVE wave bringing Noah, Trent, the boat, and the sharks onto the shore.

Somehow, even with the pain in his back, Cody couldn't help but be glad that they won the first part of the challenge. They won a wheel barrel to drag all their stuff along, and eventually, with a lot of working together (Which brought Cody's thoughts back to Noah's social skills again). Oddly enough, Noah helped out without saying anything to antagonize their teammates… Probably because he didn't say anything at all… Eventually, their hot tub had been done, and to his surprise, it looked pretty good!They won the challenge, Leshawna and Heather seemed to have made up, and they got to have their AWESOME hot tub PARTY!!! Cody was chilling in the hot tub with a juice box. Remembering that this WAS their first win, he stood and decided to make a toast!

"To the Screaming Gophers!"

"To the SCREAMING GOPHERS!" they all rejoiced.

Yeah, tonight was a really good night. Even NOAH seemed to be enjoying himself as he started dancing with Leshawna and Owen. A few hours passed by, and only he, Heather, Trent, Owen, and Leshawna were in the hot tub. It seemed that Chris and Chef left for their campsite already, and the camera men fell asleep from watching their boring conversation for so long. It only made coming clean easier on everyone, since the whole world didn't seem to be watching them at this time. It seemed like a normal chat between them until he looked by the Gopher boys' cabin door to see Noah reading on the porch. Feeling bad that Noah was by himself, Cody tried to be nice.

"Hey, Noah! You haven't come in, yet! Join us!" he shouted over to the tanned know-it-all, who gave him a look that Cody knew was a refusal.

"Yeah, Noah! Come in! There's lots of room!" shouted Trent.

"Yeah, other than the large gas tank next to me, there's lots of room" Heather said, sarcastically, referring to Owen.

"I can't read in the hot tub" Noah replied. Cody wasn't giving up that easily.

"Yeah you can, dude! Just get in here!" he shouted.

"Boy, if you don't get yo srawny butt in this tub, I'm gonna throw you in here like I did with Ms. Prom queen over here!… No offense" said Leshawna, letting that last part get to Heather, who shrugged.

Noah stared at the five Gophers in the hot tub and sighed, knowing that once again, he had no choice in the matter. Cody smirked- He won this battle. Noah was coming in whether he liked it or not.

It's not that Cody was TRYING to torture the guy, really, just that he was trying to get Noah to be a little more social. Besides, it would have been cool to be friends with a guy who got high scores on almost EVERY online game created AND beat Kingdom Hearts II in ONE DAY (He read it out of his journal in the little time he had with it). He just figured if they're gonna be roommates, they should at least try to get along at the same time, whether or not they WERE in a competition against each other, technically…

Granted, games and such were not all he read about… Apparently, he's never had ANY time with his parents. EVER. Since he was a child he seemed to have been independent… No one would help him out or give him a break, and childhood never really IS an easy thing to go through when you're short for your age… Cody wondered if he could be Noah's first friend. After all, things like these are easier to go through with friends. He also knew that in the end, no one can do everything alone… Even if Noah's done things by himself, Cody couldn't imagine what it would be like to go through life without even being able to go on a ride in the car with your dad or have a nice talk with your mom. It may not be the greatest thing to some teenagers… But not even Cody would know what he'd do without his dad…

Noah walked out with his book and in his swim shorts, walking towards the hot tub with a bored and uncomfortable expression on his face. He slowly slipped in and settled as everyone stared at him. Cody was getting worried that the silence may push Noah to leave, and decided to break the ice.

"So, um… Since we're not exactly from the same place in Canada, what are you guys like in school?" He mentally slapped himself. What cool person talks about SCHOOL!? Well, OTHER than Noah, of course… Great, he was thinking about Noah again… Pretty soon, Cody was thinking he might be coming off as a stalker of NOAH! _A GUY_!!

Trent, however, didn't seem to mind the topic, and spoke first.

"Well, I'm a straight A student, and I'm also into playing guitar and working on motorcycles" he said, casually as Owen spoke next.

"Really? Wow, that's AWESOME! I'm just the guy who helps eat leftovers in the school cafeteria! The lunch ladies seem to love me! My class even considers me the party ANIMAL!" he said, punching fists with Trent.

"Really? I would have considered you the party _POOPER_" said Heather, causing Noah and Leshawna to chuckle a bit as she referred to his horrendous gases.

"Well, yeah, I'm that, too, when it comes to food"

Immediately, everyone in the tub scooted away from Owen, making sure nothing got on them that they'd have to shower for years to get off. Owen suddenly slapped himself.

"OH, so THAT'S what you meant! Darn it!" he said.

Everyone laughed at Owen's buffoonery once again, as Leshawna went on to continue the nice chat they were all having.

"So what about you, shrimp? What're you like in school since you brought this up?" asked Leshawna.

Cody noticed Noah wince a little, and almost unnoticeably at the nickname as he read his book, and Cody immediately wished that he hadn't brought up this topic anymore, but seeing as he couldn't take it back, he tried to answer as casually as he could.

"Oh, uh, I'm one of the chick magnets! Yup, the ladies LOVE me, dudes" he said, somewhat faltering at the word 'love', while he put his hands behind his head and crossed his legs coolly, only for his foot on the tub floor to slip and cause him to fall further in, dunking his head underneath.

Without warning, someone next to him had grabbed his arm and pulled him up. He looked and noticed that Noah was the one to pull him up, his eyes not leaving his book for a minute. Shocked, surprised, and kinda confused, he got settled back in and continued the conversation, despite the constant snickers and sarcastic remarks he got from Heather and Leshawna.

"Oh yeah, REAL cool, alright" snickered Heather, as Leshawna couldn't hold in her laughter.

He looked down in the water, feeling a little embarrassed… Okay, VERY embarrassed! Even Noah was staring at him like he was a fool. Suddenly, he heard someone 'ahem', getting the other's attention.

"Well, I've got worse. I'm the class president in my school." he started. Cody looked at him, along with everyone else, who wondered where he was going with this. "The initiation for the student council is to go around the school dressed like a 'gangsta', as you call it? … And you had to try kiss up to the cheerleaders with it…"

They all looked at him like he was CRAZY! Noah? Dressed like a GANGSTA?? No way!!

"So… what happened?" Trent asked.

"Every cheerleader's boyfriend came and…" he sighed, as if he couldn't believe he was saying this… "they… gave me a wedgie and hung me on the flagpole…"

Silence. Complete, utter silence… Until they heard a snicker coming from Owen. Suddenly, he started laughing like a hyena, along with Heather and Leshawna, who were leaning on each other for support. Trent was covering his mouth as if to hide the fact that he so DESPERATELY wanted to laugh. Cody looked at Noah and wondered why he, of all people, was telling them all this. Why not just let everyone laugh at… Wait a minute… It had suddenly hit Cody.

Was Noah… defending him…?

Was Noah trying to get everyone to back off by telling them something embarrassing about himself? Or was Cody becoming paranoid or hopeful or whatever could possibly be tampering with his head and sanity at this moment. The laughing had subsided and Trent had calmed himself down to pat Noah on the back.

"Dude, that's awful. When'd you get down?"

"Didn't. I was joking. Didn't think you'd believe it" he said, smirking, causing them to all lose their smiles and get frowns, also getting their faces to turn pink from embarrassment.

"Wait, how do we know you're not lying now?" Heather asked.

"Would I REALLY become the class president if I'd known we'd have an initiation like THAT?" Noah asked, his monotone voice sounding somewhat honest. Leshawna didn't seem to buy it just yet.

"And how would you know about the initiation?" she asked.

"Teachers are stupid. It's not hard getting secrets from them if you're a straight A student and help them out a lot like I do" his monotone voice still hadn't changed.

"That IS true" said Owen. "My teachers always gave me their lunch when their parents made it for them and they wanted to eat the school lunch instead!"

They all looked at Owen, wondering how much food he eats in a day's time… But Cody had lost interests when he realized that Noah HAD to have made up that story to get everyone's attention off of him, and was impressed at how he could easily get the attention off of himself with it! He was AMAZING! He definitely needed to be friends with him now! He noticed Noah stand up and leave the tub and heading for the cabins.

"Hey, where're you going?"

"It's late, and I'm shriveling up. I'm going to sleep" he said, walking into the cabin.

"That boy is definitely some kind of strange" Leshawna said, shaking her head in his direction.

"Yeah, and he's so monotone. He's almost as bad as the weird goth girl" Heather agreed.

"Aw, come on, guys" Trent started. "At least he's talking to us, right? We should be getting ready as a team for tomorrow's challenge, so I'll be getting out, too"

Eventually, the night had come to a close, as they all headed for their cabin rooms, ready for a good rest for tomorrow, when their next challenge would begin. As Cody walked into the room, he noticed Noah, writing in his journal, and approached him, sitting next to him on his bed. Noah hadn't seemed to notice him until the sudden pressure next to him, causing him to jump in surprise, only to find Cody. He sighed in relief and continued writing.

"Adding today's events?" Cody asked.

"Hmph… None of your business…" he replied.

"Aw, c'mon, dude. You don't have to act! Trent and Owen are in the showers, and Justin up here sleeps like a bear in hibernation!"

"Act? I've no clue as to what you're talking about"

Cody was getting weary of this."Dude, I know you were defending me out there. The whole faking the initiation story…" explained Cody.

Noah sat silently next to him, still writing in his journal. He didn't notice Cody trying to take a peek until he accidentally fell forward, making Noah catch him in his arms, causing the journal and pen to fall to the floor. They looked at each other for a moment, but Noah suddenly dropped him and climbed into bed facing towards the wall and away from Cody, completely forgetting about the book on the floor. Cody stood.

"Dude, um, sorry… My bad…" he said, and noticed the book on the ground. He picked it up, and Noah seemed to realize this.

"Put it in the drawer, please" he asked… nicely? It almost sounded like an order. Seeing as what had just happened a second ago, Cody figured it was the least he could do, even with the curiosity of what he could've been writing just now. He opened the drawer and placed the book in, along with the pen and closed it. Now there was just an awkward silence.

"Uh… Yeah, um… Still, thanks for helping me out, though…" Cody said again, hoping Noah would reply this time…

"… I've no comment" he replied, his voice somewhat muffled by the pillow.

Cody sighed. Great, he could've been friends with Noah by the end of today had he not been so clumsy. Seeing as there was enough damage done for today, he walked over to his bed and settled in, hoping it could be mended tomorrow during the next challenge… Well, he could hope, anyway…

Noah had been laying in his bed, completely covered up and showing nothing but his head. He was SO embarrassed, and he realized that once again, he may have hurt Cody's feelings, even when he had tried to get a better impression on the boy by helping him out… As much as he wished he didn't want to, Noah knew he had a chance at a real friend. Even HE wasn't so stubborn as to try be friends with someone so sincere and kind and…

What was happening to him…? It couldn't have been…

No.

He won't ruin his first possible friendship like that. He won't ever let that secret out again. Not after what happened the last time he did. No one can ever know. Especially since they were on national TV at this very moment… No one can know, and even if Cody were to become his friend…

…That'd be even MORE so that he will not be allowed to know…

He sighed… His blush came back, and he wished it would go away already. It had to be the answer, but he REALLY wished otherwise…

Both boys had been so preoccupied with this little scene that they didn't notice the thin figure of a teen with long silky black hair, watching them the entire time from the screen door. She turned from the door and tapped her chin as if in deep thought.

"There's something going on between those two… If I'm going to stay in this competition, I should keep an eye on them…"

With that said, she walked into her cabin before anyone else could notice her.


	3. How It Was Damaged

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Disclaimer: No, I don't own Total Drama Island or anything that is referenced in this story. Please enjoy.

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Noah woke up to the LOUDEST honking noise in the HISTORY of loud noises (If it were a history, he'd definitely know about it). Rubbing his head from bumping it against the bunk above him, he grunted in aggravation as he heard the other campers yelling outside their rooms. He had to remember what the hell he was doing yesterday before he could do anything else… What did they do again..? Oh, right, how could he forget the PLUNGE INTO SHARK INFESTED WATERS ABOUT 1,000 FEET OFF THE GROUND!!! He was still trembling on the inside from the exhilaration of falling. Then Owen won the challenge with his jump… and then… the hot tub party. Was there anything else he forgot? He looked around the room and his eyes caught the attention of a blue-eyed dork on the top bunk of the bed beside his. His eyes widened.

Oh. Shoot. Last night, Cody and him got a bit… close… And he sighed as he remembered how hurt the boy sounded when he suddenly jumped and turned away. But what was he _SUPPOSE_ to do!? He was pretty sure Cody was bothered in the position as well… He stood from his bed to get changed, despite all the arguing outside. By 7:28 a.m., they had all been outside, changed, and VERY tired… He was seriously thinking of suing this host once this was all over, but knowing that he signed a contract, he knew it wouldn't do much good…

He looked at Cody once more before going outside. He wish he didn't, though… The boy still looked uncomfortable about the night before… Maybe trying to be his friend wasn't such a good idea…

However, it was now 7: 29 a.m., and Chris seemed all smiley for a reason. Noah wasn't stupid as to not realize that today was going to be hell for EVERYONE here…

"Good morning! Hope you slept well!" he said, awfully chipper for someone hosting such an overrated show.

"Hi, Chris! You look really buff in those shorts!" commented Heather. Noah nearly gagged at the comment.

"I know!" agreed Chris, winking at her. "I hope you're all ready cuz your next challenge starts in ONE. MINUTE!"

…Whoa… WHAT?!

"Oh, uh, excuse me! I don't think that's enough time to eat breakfast!" noted Owen. Oh yeah, because THAT'S the first thing you think about when your challenge is right after you wake up. Noah shook his head at Owen.

"Oh, you'll get breakfast, Owen! Right after you complete a 20 kilometer run _AROUND THE LAKE_!" he announced as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

…Right, whatever…! The weird Eva girl with the temper of a rhinoceros with a hernia was about to kick his butt, too, until that weirdly, never angered Geoff guy and someone else had held her back. Too bad for Noah. He was REALLY looking forward to seeing that.

"You have 30 seconds!"

Great. Not only was Noah TERRIBLE at anything involving athletics, but now he had to do it for a CHALLENGE! Not that he wasn't expecting it, but seriously- 20 KILOMETERS!? He was so dead. His siblings at home were probably laughing their butts off watching this…

Chris beeped the horn, and everyone was off. Stupid Heather brat was in his way, though, and he bumped into her. Not that he really cared (Despite the look she'd been giving him all morning). His roommates were WAY ahead of him… Other than Owen, who had the condition of a panda after their meals, who was way behind him drinking puddle water right now. Yeah, that was utterly disgusting.

He looked ahead and noticed Cody was a little up by the faster people, which didn't surprise him. The boy was such a wanna-be he probably tried out for sports a couple of times, yet, most likely failed in the process… Maybe he should try explaining the situation to him… It is often said that friends tell each other everything.

Well, he'd tell Cody ALMOST anything…

How long had he been running? It must've been a while, because he was already losing his breath, and Chris was riding by on a motor- thingy (he was too tired to care what the name of it was) with his blow horn yelling at everyone to hurry up or they don't eat. Yeah that was COMPLETE inspiration for Noah. Like getting food was the first thought on his mind when his vision was starting to blur…

…When did things start to spin…?

Suddenly, the spinning grew so fast he didn't even notice it. His breath was getting raspy. Why didn't he just stop running, he didn't know. He was starting to black out, the air in his lungs long gone…

Noah remembered hitting the ground… And then nothing. Must've gone unconscious. What happened…? He knew he was terrible at sports, but he didn't think he'd go unconscious so early in the game… Someone was carrying him, he knew that much. Whoever it was felt squishy. He could barely hear the sound of a door slamming open.

"CLEAR A TABLE!"

It was Owen's voice. Ah, he wondered why he felt like he was being carried by a balloon. Owen was full of enough hot air to carry the Hawaiian Islands off the ground. He felt wood beneath him… Was someone pushing his chest? Would he ever open his eyes already? Air was starting to return to his lungs again… His eyes opened into slits, and he could barely see Trent, Owen, and Heather above him. Someone else was at the end of the table… From the blur of light brown hair, he'd assume it was Cody… Was he… worried…? Suddenly, he heard that goth girl's voice… What was her name…? Gwen, was it? Not that he liked her very much. However, Cody seemed to, which made her… okay…

"Hey, wait a minute. If they lost, that means… We won the challenge!"

Okay, maybe he liked her, after all! He DEFINITELY heard that! He was wide awake now and cheering along with the rest of his team. However, Chris had to ruin the nice moment between the team…

"Whoa, whoa, hold it guys! That wasn't the challenge!"

…Say what?

"Who's HUNGRY?" he asked, opening a curtain (Which Noah knew wasn't there earlier) to reveal a table with a HUGE buffet! He already knew the first things on everyone's minds, considering they were all drooling… Especially Owen… They had all eaten like animals, except Noah, who noticed that Cody was next to him and used a fork and knife in proper manners (no matter how desperately he wanted to just scarf in all down). Cody seemed to notice this.

"Noah, why're you using utensils? Just use your hands and shove it in your mouth, dude!" he said, getting back to his food.

Noah looked at him. Well, if he says so, granted, Noah was never one to purposely make a mess… But come ON! This was good food, which he hadn't had since leaving home! He took a grab at the turkey and stuck it in his mouth, savoring the flavor. Once they all finished, completely full and leaving the table empty, he had noticed Chris stand on the table.

"Alright, campers! Time for the second part of your challenge!" Chris said with the blow horn, making everyone's jaw drop.

"I thought eating was the challenge!" He wished.

"What more could you WANT from us?" Have they not learned by now…?

"Weird goth girl's right! Haven't we suffered ENOUGH?" She's kidding, right?

"Um, let me think about that…" he paused. "NO! It's time for… The AWAKE-A-THON!"

…Was… He... _SERIOUS!?!?_

"Don't worry!" he continued. "This is an easy one! The last camper standing for their team wins invincibility!"

Yeah, Noah was SERIOUSLY thinking about doing terrible things to this host… He couldn't believe they were all walking towards the campfire area. Some people were already getting drowsy, including Noah himself… He didn't noticed Cody walk beside him, scratching his arm nervously, as if trying to say something.

"So… um… you still mad about last night…?" he tried. Noah thought about it for a moment. It's not like he was the one who should be mad. That was just something about Cody. Always blaming himself. It made Noah feel guilty, which is something Noah had gotten used to during his years in high school…

"It really wasn't something to be mad about"

He mentally slapped himself. Oh yeah, cuz THAT wasn't going to give his secret away!!

"Huh?" Cody asked, confused. Come one, Noah, THINK! _THINK FASTER_!!!

"… It was an… accident, after all. Just caught me by surprise" he replied, trying REALLY hard to get rid of the upcoming blush on his face. He was lucky enough to have dark skin. This seemed to make Cody a little better, and get the previous comment out of his head as he sighed in relief.

"Whew! Dude, I thought you were totally peeved! I'm still sorry about that, though" he said, patting Noah on the back, which, normally Noah would have been irritated with, but somehow, it felt comforting…

"Um… Sure…"

* * *

Heather, who had been walking behind them a couple of feet, stared at them with daggers. She knew something was up between them, and it really was going to be a problem sooner or later. She was more worried about these two then she was about that goth girl, Gwen and that musician, Trent… Something needed to be done by the end of this challenge. She would ensure it…

* * *

Noah was sure he'd been up for at least a DECADE… Okay, the lack of sleep was DEFINITELY getting to him, and the only thing he had to keep him awake was the fact that Cody was sitting next to him, staring at him as if he wanted to say something. However, Cody refused to say anything, so Noah tried to break the ice.

"You said you played videogames, right?" he started. Cody looked at him surprised.

"Uh, yeah!" he said.

"What did you play?" he asked.

"Well, there were all the Pokemon games, and the Final Fantasy series…" Cody started.

"Really? Which Final Fantasy was your favorite?" Noah asked, glad that there wasn't any tension between them now. If he was going to be friends with Cody, he should at least try have a good conversation with him, first.

"Number VII. The story is really good, and the characters look AWESOME in the movie" Cody said.

"Yeah, I'll admit that one was really good. Although I like Number VIII better" Noah replied. Cody looked at him for a moment, as if studying him, making Noah a little nervous. "What is it?"

"When I think of Final Fantasy VIII, I think that you remind me of Squall Leonhart!"

Noah was taken aback. Him as Squall Leonhart? No way.

"What-ever… I don't really think so" he replied, crossing his arms.

"I think so! You even have the look he wears in his eyes!" he noted.

"You really pay THAT much attention?" Noah asked, surprised. Cody seemed to take this negatively, and started scratching his arm nervously again.

"Uh, yeah… Is it weird?" he asked.

"Not really. I just didn't know someone else was into games as much as I was" said Noah. And truthfully, he didn't. Noah knew everything about videogames like Kingdom Hearts, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, everything! He didn't know someone other than him would pay that much attention to games, too. He noticed Cody was watching him again, and cleared his throat.

"Well, if we're gonna talk about similarities, then in some ways, you are a mix of Rinoa and Yuffie" he stated. "You're persistent, like the both of them, and you definitely speak your mind. You actually have their happy personalities to go with it. Not that you're feminine or anything, but still…"Cody looked nervous again, and blushed when he seemed to realize something.

"But… In Final Fantasy VIII, Rinoa and Squall get together…" he started, and Noah's eyes widened, and he mentally slapped himself as he knew the next thing coming. "And him and Yuffie are considered a possible couple in Kingdom Hearts…"

The tension was back again, and Noah REALLY wished again that he could just kick himself for even mentioning the possibility of Cody being anything like the two chipper characters of two different videogames…

"Well, um… What about Organization XIII from Kingdom Hearts? Who do you think I'm like?" Noah asked, trying to keep the conversation going smoothly.

"Oh, um… I think you're like Zexion! You have the hair for him, if you'd just cover your eye a bit" Cody answered, trying to fix Noah's hair. "There!"

And it worked pretty well. With Noah's hair in his face, he really did look like the character Cody thought of him as… Noah thought for a second.

"Well, once again, I think your personality goes well as Demyx. You are a rather bubbly person" Noah noted, making Cody frown again.

"…Another popular couple…" he said, his face becoming red. Noah was really getting fed up with his bad luck…

"You're a really good fan to pay attention to all of that!" Noah said, somewhat impressed at how much Cody knew about the characters.

"Um, yeah…" Cody said.

"This conversation's getting a bit awkward, isn't it?" Noah asked, seeing the look on Cody's face.

Cody shook his head. "Nah, we're buddies, right? We're not supposed to feel awkward around each other, yo!" he said, crossing his arms like a gangster. Noah shook his head at the gesture…

"Okay, then" He yawned. All this talk of videogames was kinda getting him sleepy, no matter how much fun it was being able to talk to someone about his interests… No wonder people had a hard time in school with friends around… They're kinda addicting…

"Hey, stay up, man! We already lost Owen! … Hey, where'd the big guy-… Go…?" Cody looked past Noah's head and saw something very disturbing. Seeing his expression, Noah turned around to find Owen's clothes all over the ground. With the disgusting image of Owen walking around naked and with how tired he was, Noah fainted.

* * *

Cody looked at the boy in front of him shocked, as he feel right on the ground. However, he seemed t be okay. Just exhausted. When Cody thought about it, Noah looked pretty peaceful in his sleep, rather than touchy and grouchy like he usually looked. Maybe it was just Cody, but Noah seemed pretty cool for someone who talked to others the way he did…

Cody couldn't help but smile. Maybe they were actually getting somewhere in this friendship. At least Cody would have someone to hang out with throughout this competition. He sat next to Noah on the ground, trying his hardest to stay awake for his team, not noticing the icy look Heather was throwing them… Eventually, however, Cody couldn't stay up any longer, and like Noah before him, he fell asleep. Right beside Noah…

* * *

Noah had found himself sitting in the dark. Looking around, he didn't see anyone… Or anything… Seeing as he'd get nothing done sitting around, he stood and started walking. Suddenly, he noticed the familiar figures of the other campers. They were walking past him, refusing to take one look at him. Wondering what was happening, he looked for the one who befriended him. Cody.

He saw him a few feet away, and approached the light brown head that was his friend. Suddenly, Cody turned around and was looking at him oddly. Noah stopped as Cody's figure slowly grabbed his shoulders and brought his face closer to his. Noah stood there, dumbstruck.

He looked around. What was up with Cody? This wasn't him! He wouldn't do this in public! He tried to stop him. If this happened, not only would Cody be embarrassed beyond relief, but Noah's secret would be out. Cody held his chin and looked at him intensely. Who WAS this person…? It wasn't Cody… But his face was right there, next to his. His breath blew into Noah's face, making Noah shiver… He had to resist… He had to fight it. He refused to let Cody's life become hell like his own did… He wouldn't allow it…

Before he knew it, Cody's lips met his own, and as hard as Noah tried, he couldn't fight… He didn't want to. Cody was the only person to reach out to him. Cody was the only person who shared similar interests with him and was the only person who'd let Noah know that…

…Cody was the only person who gave Noah a chance…

Noah gave in… And when he woke up, he immediately regretted it…

The sun shone brightly in the sky, and Noah felt something against his lips… Was he kissing something? He opened his eyes and realized that yes, he was kissing something…

…_HE WAS KISSING CODY'S EAR!!! _When he realized this, he started screaming, along with Cody himself, who joined him only for the both of them to run away from each other in COMPLETE awkwardness… Noah ran behind a tree and buried his face in his hands… He kissed _CODY_!! Not _JUST_ in his dream, but in _REALITY_ as well! _AND ON TV!!!_ Noah wanted to punch himself so badly, it hurt… He fell to the ground, leaning against the tree as he bent his head down. Cody must've been totally freaked out, now…

* * *

Cody ran to the Dock of Shame, staring into the water as he panted. His face was completely red. His new buddy had just _KISSED HIM_! And if it wasn't weird enough, his buddy just kissed him on the _EAR_!!! Cody was utterly weirded out… But yet, he couldn't help but think that his lips were rather soft…

* * *

Heather watch the entire scene and was smirking with an idea popping up in her head. She couldn't help but rejoice as she knew she'd be getting a lot of work done from this one challenge. By pocketing that creepy girl Eva's MP3 player, she was sure that the girl would be voted off if the Killer Bass lost this challenge, which she was sure would happen. But now she had a plan to break that alliance that the two boys were obviously forming together. She just had to make sure her timing was right… And that the gap-toothed dork was stupid enough to say the right things…

* * *

By the time the challenge ended, everyone had been DEAD tired. Including Cody… However, he didn't notice that Heather approached him, looking like she had some good news. She sat next to him on the Dock of Shame, making him jump.

"You look tired" she said, nicely, creeping Cody out a bit.

"Uh… yeah…" he said, scratching his head.

"You know what I heard from a certain blue-haired roommate of mine? I heard she thinks you're totally cute!" Heather said, making Cody look up at her.

"You mean Gwen-?" he asked, but Heather interrupted him.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Point is, she thinks you're really cute, and you know what would make her practically DROOL over you? If you were to sit by her side as she slept. I'm sure she'd LOVE for you to let her know in her sleep that you'd be there for her, no matter what…" she said. Cody looked unsure.

"I dunno… That doesn't sound like Gwen…" he said.

"Oh, come on! She may look all tough on the outside, but on the inside, she's a marshmallow! Besides, I'm her roommate! Would I ever steer you wrong?" she asked.

Cody still looked unsure… But he WAS pretty irresistible! After all, GUYS were starting to kiss him!… Oh, wait… He forgot to check up on Noah…

"You know, maybe I should see if Noah's okay, first… He did seem a bit upset…" Cody said. Heather's patience was wearing VERY thin…

"Come on, you're friends, aren't you? I'm sure he'll understand!" she said, patting him on the back for reassurance. Cody took a minute to think, but eventually gave in and stood to go to the Gopher Girl's cabin. Heather smiled at her handiwork, and stood herself to go find the lazy know-it-all. She found him in his room, reading a book on his bed. She approached him, putting on the kindest look on her face that she could muster.

"Hey, there… I saw what happened…" she said, sounding somewhat sympathetic.

"I'm reading" he said simply, and she raised an eyebrow. This was going to be a little tougher…

"Hmm… It was such a shame, too… I mean, you both got along so well! It's so hard to see that small little moment ruin your friendship" she said. He didn't answer, and she knew she was getting through to him. "I mean, I'd be really mad if Lindsay tried replacing me just because I accidentally woke up to doing something embarrassing as kissing her on the ear!"

At this, Noah had put his book down and looked at her.

"What're you talking about? Me and Cody are still friends. He's the one who said that nothing would cause awkwardness between us…" he said, looking at Heather's face to see sincerity (FAKE sincerity, I'll add) in her eyes.

"Which only makes my news harder to say…" she started, and Noah's eyes widened. "You see, he's always had the hots for that weird goth girl, Gwen, and he's starting to think that you LIKED him… and he's a bit disturbed…"

"Will you get to the point?" he snapped, getting irritated.

"He's replacing you with Gwen, Noah… I'm sorry… If you don't believe me, you can go watch him talk to Gwen in the girls cabin… That's how I found out…" she said, placing a hand on his shoulder, which he brushed off as he stood to walk out the room. Heather smirked, not noticing the pair of eyes that were walking by the window, only to have seen the entire scene.

* * *

Noah had walked by the screen door of the Girl's cabin for the Gophers, and he noticed Cody sitting on a chair next to Gwen's bed. He was leaning close to Gwen, but he could still hear what he was saying…

"… You know, you're a real cool girl… You probably think that I'm kinda dorky and weird, but… I… I really think you're the coolest person I've ever met… I'd do anything to be your friend… If just your friend… To tell you the truth, you may be my only friend now…" Cody said, looking at the ground.

Noah watched this happen in front of his eyes as the words echoed in his head over and over again… Did Cody really say that…? What about HIM!? Wasn't HE his friend, anymore!? Was that kiss ALL that could break the friendship that was growing between the two of them?!… His hands balled into fists, and he didn't notice Heather standing behind him, smiling evilly. She placed her hand on his back, putting her sympathetic mask back on. He brushed it off, walking back into the boy's cabin, face hidden by his hair from when Cody played around with it…

He looked around the room and saw Cody's bed… He was so angry… He needed to do something… He wanted REVENGE. He looked around outside the cabin and saw some mud near the porch. He smirked to himself and (despite how clean he likes to be), he picked some up and walked back into the cabin, smearing it on Cody's bed in hopes that the other would be stupid and sleepy enough to fall for his prank of revenge.

* * *

Cody walked out of the Girl's Gopher Cabin, a little guilty. He technically lied to Gwen in her sleep when he said that she was the coolest person he'd ever met. The one he thought of when he thought cool was Noah, who seemed to think the same thing about him. Although he wasn't sure Noah was exactly comfortable around him at the moment… He might've lost his new buddy due to their accident… But he wouldn't mind if Gwen became his friend, too, if Noah and him were still friends…

He was still a little drowsy… He opened the door to the cabin to find Noah writing in his journal again, looking somewhat peeved… He tried to say something, but it didn't look like he was in the mood, and walked towards his bunk. He climbed onto his bed to take a nap… Suddenly, he felt something cold and squishy beneath him. He sat up, and saw that he was sitting in MUD!! IN HIS BED!! He jumped out of his bed and looked at Noah.

"Noah, what happened to my bed?!" Cody asked, looking at his mud covered butt (Which looked REALLY wrong, I might add…).

"I put it there" he said simply. Cody looked at him dumbstruck.

"Why?!" he asked, shocked, confused, and angry.

"Because that's the kind of thing people do to end friendships, loser. Go bother someone else with your petty problems from now on" Noah replied. Cody's jaw dropped.

What was happening? Did he do something wrong? Why was Noah acting like this towards his friend?

"Noah…" Cody started, thinking that something might be wrong with him, but Noah had enough.

"You know what, Cody? WHAT-EVER! I'm tired of listening to you, already. Like I said yesterday, you are nothing but a nuisance! I'm here to win, NOT to make friends! Just LEAVE ME ALONE, YOU WANNA-BE!" he shouted into Cody's face, picking up his journal and pen, leaving the room, leaving Cody there, lost, confused, and… upset… His hands were balled up into fists. His teeth were clenched.

"What…WHAT A-" started Cody.

* * *

"-_**JERK**! HOW COULD_-" Noah said, angrily.

* * *

"-_HE SAY SUCH THINGS_!?" continued Cody, furiously punching his bunk.

* * *

"How could I-" said Noah, sitting on a tree stump.

* * *

"-Have _**EVER**_ believed that-" continued Cody.

* * *

"-WE were _**FRIENDS**_!?" shouted Noah, seeing as he was far away from the campsite for no one to hear him. He sighed, burying his head in his hands again… "I can't believe I thought I, of all people, could EVER have a real friend… Especially here, of all places… What-ever…"


	4. How He Left

Disclaimer: Like I've said before. I don't own Total Drama Island or anything that was referenced in this story.

* * *

Cody was NOT in a good mood today… Everyone sat in the mess hall this very moment, waiting for Chris to assign them their next challenge. It probably would've been worse than the last two, but he came for a reason. He wasn't going to let one person in the entire camp ruin the time he had for himself…He had a life, too, he didn't need someone who thought he was a wanna-be! He could last! It was only one person, while he had more friends to lean on during the competition!…

…Truthfully, he wanted to break down…

He seriously didn't know what he did wrong! The only thing that happened between them was an accidental KISS! So maybe it was on TV, SO WHAT? Majority of the world never even knew who Noah WAS! He didn't have to ruin a pair of Cody's pants, or call him a wanna-be… However, he sighed when he thought about the fact that his siblings were probably watching the show, ready to make fun of Noah in every possible way once he returned home. The thought made him sad… And they had gotten along so well in so little time… They really could've been great friends… But he didn't even know what happened…

Suddenly, he saw the dork from the other team walk in with something on his face. He walked in so casually, even though he had a marker mustache on his FACE! All thoughts Cody had disappeared as he tried desperately to hold in his laughter, but failed miserably. He, along with the rest of his team, were bursting with laughter, some even slamming their hands on the table as the Killer Bass member looked and admired himself in a spoon. He suddenly heard the most horrible host ever once again…

"Hey, everyone! It's Gwen!"

Suddenly, the whole table cheered as a zombie looking Gwen walked into the room, slamming her face against the table. He wondered if him seeing Gwen before Noah yesterday had anything to do with Noah's behavior, but shook it off as he saw Heather make fun of the other team. Then the bossy brunette, Courtney whatever her name was had thrown her oatmeal into Gwen's face, missing Heather, which bothered Cody a little bit since he thought Gwen was rather cute WITHOUT the oatmeal on her face.

He noticed Noah's smirking face and turned away. He still couldn't believe Noah said those things to him when he tried so hard to be nice to him… He was still a little ticked, but… He kinda missed talking to him. Chris walked in and announced that the next challenge was about to start, causing everyone to stand and follow him to the 'next challenge', which somehow, Cody had not been looking forward to in any way… There they stood, in a clear walled room with a court inside… A DODGEBALL court… Cody was already hating this…

"Alright, campers! Your next challenge is the classic game of dodge ball. The first rule of dodge ball is-" Chris started, but Cody heard his EX-best friend's voice in his irritating monotone squeak of a voice.

"Do not TALK about dodge ball…?" he says, and snickers with Owen.

Oh, what? Is Owen his new best friend now that he ditched him? Cody was getting more irritated with every passing second. Irritated with how Noah could replace him so quickly. Maybe Noah really WAS a jerk after all…Chris continued.

"As I was saying. If you get hit with the ball-" he starts, throwing the ball into Courtney, which he noticed brought a smirk to Noah's face. "You're out"

Seriously, he HAD to stop thinking about Noah already… It was starting to creep him out…

"If you catch the ball, the thrower gets sent out and the catcher gets to bring in another team member out on the court" Chris had continued.

"Throwing balls. Gee, what another mentally challenging test…" he heard Noah say sarcastically. Owen and him looked like they were about to laugh until Lindsay stepped in.

"I KNOW, right?" she said, making Noah and Owen give each other a look…

Chris continued to tell the campers the rules of the game that Noah had been making fun of the entire time he had been in the room. Once the rules were done, they had to leave a couple of people out with Gwen, who seemed to be unable to even stand at the moment. He saw Noah step out of the game to read a book. Somehow, he really wasn't that surprised. That boy could finish a book in an hour if he wanted to…

For the first round, he, Owen, Leshawna, Lindsay, and Heather had been the ones to play the first match. Somehow, it ended up with him being the only one on the court against the big dark guy, DJ, and Katie, who stared down at him with looks of victory. He shook in fear. This was one reason why he hated dodge ball… But then he looked at Noah again. The guy wasn't even worried that he was the last on their side!! THE NERVE!! He'll show him a thing or two!

He spun the ball in his hands and aimed it carefully. He threw it , and although DJ had ducked it, it spun back and hit him on the behind! Cody smiled in pride as Katie tried to throw him out, but failed. By this time, Noah had at least taken a glance toward the field, but Cody hadn't noticed. With a wicked grin on his face that showed the gap between his teeth, he rubbed the ball against his shirt quickly and threw it at her, and no matter what she'd done, the static electricity was already attracted to her. The chase had resulted in the Killer Bass losing Round 1. That'll show Noah… Who hadn't been paying attention once again… Whatever. He'd won the first round. He was okay with that! He sat out the next match, and Heather tried getting Noah to join in, but the boy had refused. Yeah, big shocker. As Heather tried getting him to participate, Cody couldn't help but look at him and remember the conversation they had during the Awake-A-Thon… Or the first day here before the first challenge… Or the time they had been in the hot tub with the others chatting… All those memories began replaying in his mind, and with each one, he started feeling a little sorry for the other boy more and more… Maybe he hadn't given Noah a chance to explain why he was so peeved at the time…

He really did wish they could be friends again…

…Maybe after this challenge, Cody would try to make up with the lazy know-it-all…

The game had gone on, and in the second round, Owen had DOMINATED! He totally killed everyone on the other side of the court! It was a good thing they had him on their team. He really was one they wouldn't want to deal with in a dodge ball game… However, when it ended, Cody changed his mind about making up with Noah. Seeing the boy sarcastically cheer for the Screaming Gophers was only making him seem like more of the jerk he really was…

They only needed one game left, oddly enough! However… That creepy Duncan dude had woken up and helped the Killer Bass by a LOT! They had won two GAMES! And in the second one, he had to get hit in his 'coconut's to protect Gwen (Hey, he thought the girl was hot, and pretty interesting. What's a guy gonna do?)! However, the last two people on the court were Owen and Harold… Of course, Cody knew Owen was going to get him thrown out, but the problem was that HAROLD WAS DODGING EVERYTHING! Owen couldn't get a hit on him, which shocked EVERYONE! Including Noah, who had dropped his book in shock! That was DEFINTELY not a normal thing if you knew Noah… Eventually, however, the Killer Bass member had caught Owen's ball… and the Screaming Gophers had lost the challenge…

"Gophers… What happened?" Chris asked, as the Killer Bass carried Harold out in victory.

"What can I say? Weak effort" answered Noah, causing everyone to look at him with irritation.

Somehow, whatever thoughts Cody had about trying to make up with Noah had disappeared. Cody was DEFINITELY not going to be the one to apologize now! How could he have EVER thought about making up with Noah and being friends again if Noah was going to be a jerk about every little thing!? Granted, Cody knew well enough that they probably would've lost anyway had Noah actually tried. Heck, the guy was probably worse than Trent AND Harold put together for all he knew! But still, he was NOT going to be the one to apologize to Noah…

"Oh, shut it, Noah!" snapped Gwen, leaving the room.

"For once, I agree with her!" said Heather.

Now THAT was scary. He never thought he'd see the day that Gwen and HEATHER actually agreed on something… Noah better get his act together, otherwise he was going to get himself kicked out.

After a few campers had made their votes, Cody's turn finally came. He sat in the confessional stand, looking at the camera to vote off the next camper. However, it was hard to decide…

"You know, Noah may have been a bit edgy and a little unbearable… But… Even with how angry I am with him about what he said, I just can't vote him off… So… I guess I'm voting off Heather cuz she's really scary! … and a bit bossy" he told to the camera.

At the campfire ceremony, however (Their first one to be exact…), Cody had the honor of being given his first marshmallow. He wasn't shocked. That ending of the first round was probably why they kept him in! Then Trent was given a marshmallow, and then Heather, and Beth… Cody stood in his place, somewhat worried… They couldn't be THAT mad at Noah, right? They'd give him another chance, right…? Justin, Leshawna, and Izzy had been called up next…

It was now between Lindsay and Noah…

As nice as she was, Cody somehow would've like it if Noah had stayed. The silence seemed to go on for AGES… As the suspense grew, Cody was sure that Noah would get picked to get a marshmallow! The Screaming Gophers were forgiving people! They'd understand if they knew about his family! They wouldn't send him off so hastily…

…Right…?

Suddenly, Chris had called out the final name.

…It was Lindsay…

Cody stood there. No way… Noah had to go home… Already…? Sure, he was a little off… Maybe he'd been a jerk, but… things like that can be changed! He showed it to Cody during the last two challenges and the time between them! Noah could change! He already had! He just had to be friends with him again to make it happen! Noah hadn't been taking the loss too well. He even make a remark that had everyone else throwing their marshmallows at him… And laugh at him…

Suddenly, Cody felt terrible… He watched as Noah brushed off their comments and headed towards the boys cabin to grab his stuff. Could he really let this happen…? No… If Noah left, Cody would NEVER be able to be friends with him again. He had to do it now, or never…Without anything being said, and to the shock of the rest of the team, Cody had run after Noah to the Gopher guy's cabin…

These thought had ultimately confused the boy.

He made it just in time to see Noah leaving the room with his suitcase, a downhearted look in his eyes. However, when he noticed Cody in front of him, the look changed to his sarcastic bored one, and he brushed by Cody, headed to the Dock of Shame… He didn't seem to want to say anything, but Cody wasn't going to let him go that easily! He walked after him, calling out to him, but Noah didn't seem to stop for a second. Not one…

Finally catching up to him, Cody stopped right in front of Noah, making the other boy halt sharply. Cody panted heavily, staring up into the other boy's eyes, seeing that he was confused, aggravated… But he also saw other things in them. Humiliation, disappointment… Sadness? The angry look he wore during their fight seemed to fade into many other things that confused Cody.

When he finally got a hold of his breath, all the things he wanted to say to the darker teen had disappeared from his mind. He had no idea as to how he was going to get his words out. Noah, however, seemed to want to say something, too. And he did as he hid his face with his hair, looking down as he walked around Cody.

"… Have fun with your new best friend… Cody… and good luck…" he muttered, walking onto the Dock, where the boat of losers awaited, with Chef at the wheel…

Suddenly, Cody lost all track of things… Did Noah just call him Cody again? Ever since the fight, all Noah ever called Cody was 'loser'… Which stung Cody every time it was said, but… Now, in the tone that he spoke in when they talked about videogames, he called him Cody… one last time… he even wished him LUCK! Just WHAT was going through Noah's head? If Cody's head grew from confusion, his head would've exploded by now!

He wanted to say something so badly, but he didn't know what. That he'd miss him? That he wished he didn't have to go? Somehow, those sounded like things that friends wouldn't NORMALLY say to each other, especially when being friends for such a short time period… Time seemed to turn slow-motion as he watched Noah step closer to the boat of losers. He even caught Noah's last glance towards him as he stepped into the boat and waited for it to leave, taking him home…

Cody was so shocked and lost that he didn't notice Leshawna standing next to him… He jumped a little as she put her hand on his shoulder, giving him a sympathetic look.

"Look… I don't know what happened between you two, especially since you guys seemed like such good friends… But if it helps, I don't think that boy meant to act so… aggravating today…" she said, making Cody look at her in shock.

"How would you know?" asked Cody, out of curiosity.

"Hey, I know these things! I can see them as clear as day, and hun, that boy really wanted to be friends with you again. Just as much as you wanted to with him…" she said, patting his back in comfort. "He may have irritated everyone on the team, but somehow, it seemed… forced. Like he didn't want to, but acted that way today anyway…"

He looked more confused than ever.

"Boy, all you need to know is that that boy wants to be friends again. Maybe if you try to talk to him when this is over, you guys can be buddies again." she said, smiling.

"…Alright… Thanks, Leshawna…" The girl could be scary sometimes, but she can also be a great help… Especially right now, which was when he needed it… He continued to watch until the boat was out of sight, and returned to his room. Once there, he noticed something different as he laid down on his bed… From his bunk, he saw something sticking out from under Noah's old pillow… It was blue…

In shocking realization, he jumped down from his bunk and snatched the thing out to find out that it was none other than…

…Noah's journal…

The thing he'd been writing in the day of their argument! He immediately looked for the most recent entry to see if he could find out what had made Noah so furious with him that day. However, all he found was the entry of the day before he arrived on the island. The pages had been ripped out… He sighed, and dropped the book, letting it land on a different page in the middle of when he first started writing in it and when he stopped…

He suddenly looked at it to see that it had been dated his first day of high school… And something interesting caught his eye as he read more into it…

'…I tried to avoid it… I tried desperately, but I don't think I can… Somehow, I've noticed that I'm not into girls as much as my fellow game club members are, and I have a liking for being around guys rather than girls… I think… I think I might be…'

He stopped reading as he finished the sentence. He looked up from the entry in shock as he dropped the book. He couldn't believe what he'd just read… Could it seriously be true?

Was Noah really… gay…?

* * *

On the boat of losers, Noah had looked at the ground. He felt awful, and he had a reason to… But he knew that he had to be the one to leave the island… He had to… He couldn't handle being on that island anymore. Forget the money. Forget his goal to add his video gaming sills to the real world… He couldn't stand it there.

It was true. He purposely acted that way towards everyone to make them kick him off the island. Had he merely forfeited the competition, the others would've suspected something or asked why, like Chris or Cody…

There was something more to it, though… He'd already come to his senses and wanted desperately to apologize to Cody again, but the problem was something else. The day he had that dream and the day he'd gotten suddenly angry at Cody for going to see Gwen rather than check on him… The day he had blushed when Cody got too close to him, he knew what had happened, and like his dream, he refused to let Cody live through the same things he did…

He looked back at the island one last time before turning back around, facing the direction the boat had been going… He knew what he had to do… He had to leave the island for on reason and that reason only…

…He was starting to like Cody… As more than a friend…


	5. How He Learned The Truth

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN TOTAL DRAMA ISLAND OR ANYTHING REFERENCED IN THIS STORY!!

* * *

Noah stepped out of the boat of losers to see a white building that resembled a mansion. There were palm trees with coconuts. It looked like a resort, but the main question Noah had on his mind was…

Why was he here? Wasn't he supposed to go home? Where was he, anyway? He looked at Chef, who had been driving the boat of losers. He cleared his throat.

"You are to stay here for the rest of the competition. You pick your room, and once you do, you're STUCK with it, and we'll know, they're cameras EVERYWHERE, know-it-all! Here're your instructions that tell you what room you have and how you can spend your day here. NO AGRUMENTS! NOW GET!" he shouted as he drove the boat away, after passing Noah a set of papers.

Chef really was a questionable person to Noah. He sighed as he looked around to see a set of stairs he had to climb, and immediately got to it… Once he reached the top his eyes widened to see the huge pool in the middle of the outside area with a refreshment bar in the middle of it. He looked around to see that no one was around, which didn't surprise him, considering that the only other two here should be the creepy girl Eva and the sexist boy Ezekiel… Who had both been on the other team…

Seeing as the two weren't around, he walked inside as his instructions told him to do so, taking the elevator to the highest floor. Not that he knew why, but whatever… The elevator doors opened to reveal a hallway of only six doors. The instructions told him to room next to the last person who had been voted off, which was Eva. He walked by the first door, which had said Ezekiel, and found the one next to it said Eva. It didn't take a genius to see his room was the empty one next to it. He walked in to see a queen size bed, a television, a set of drawers, a closet, a bathroom (thank goodness), and a balcony door. His room had a pretty nice view of the pool and refreshment bar…

Looking at his instructions once more, it said that his room key would be on the nightstand next to his bed, but when he looked, he found a note on it instead. Reading it to himself, it said:

"**You want your key?COME AND GET IT, TRAITOR!**

**Eva**"

As scared as he was of the girl in need of anger management, he knew he'd need to keep his door locked SOME TIME during his stay here... Especially if he knew that Cody would come looking for him here if he lost… Reluctantly, he walked over to Eva's room next door, and knocked softly. He immediately regretted it. The crazy girl had grabbed his shirt and pushed him against the wall, about to beat the snot out of him until she got a good look at him. She stopped, and put him down.

"Oh, it's you. I thought you were another one of my back-stabbing, teammates" she said, dropping his key onto the floor. He picked it up, but she still stood over him.

"Um… Is… There something wrong?" he asked, kinda nervous under a dragon's gaze.

"Hey, you're that Gopher boy that kissed that dork during the Awake-A-Thon" she noted.

Great. The last thing Noah wanted to remember right now was his little accident with Cody. It was an ACCIDENT for pete's sake! AND HE WAS SLEEPING!! What was a guy to do in that situation when he had no control of himself what-so-ever!? He stood up and looked at Eva, as if she was going to continue, which she did.

"So did you ask him out, yet?" she asked in a monotone voice. The question had caught Noah off guard.

"Wh-What?" he spat, looking at the girl as if she'd grown two heads.

"What? Are you surprised I knew? You are so obvious the Killer Bass could see it. You always watched the guy like some kind of vulture" she said, crossing her arms. He blushed at this, but shook it off.

"You've caught me watching him a couple of times. So what? That's hardly any proof" he said.

"Oh really? Well, what about these, Mr. Smarty-pants?" she asked, holding up a couple of papers that looked like they were ripped from a book. Noah's eyes widened as he recognized the writing on them. "I got them from that journal of yours before I left the island. Pretty interesting thoughts you got here"

Noah's face darkened at his cheeks again, which he tried to hide. Great. If it was just someone like Geoff or Bridgette from the other team, he'd be okay, but he was questionable about this crazy psychotic Godzilla descendant. He shook the feeling off and crossed his own arms. They stared each other down for a minute.

"So what? Going to blackmail me or something?" Noah asked.

"Blackmail? IS THAT WHAT I GET FOR TRYING TO BE NICE FOR ONCE!?" she shouted, pushing Noah against the wall, again, about ready to beat him into Chef's mystery meat. Noah was lost now.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Help? What're you talking about?" he asked, and she put him down.

"DON'T ACT STUPID WITH ME!! Are you telling me the producers didn't tell you!?" she asked.

"Tell me what?" he asked, getting impatient (and scared for his life).

She looked at him, and realized that he was actually telling the truth. He actually had no idea as to what had actually happened to cause the fight between him and Cody.

"About what really happened? The thing between you and the other dork" she asked, crossing her arms again. Noah looked at the ground. He really didn't want to hear this… He purposely left the island so that his thoughts of Cody wouldn't haunt him anymore…

"We got into a fight… He wanted to be friends with Gwen instead…"he asked.

She stared at him for a moment, as if debating something. However, Noah had obviously been out of the loop. Eva COULD'VE taken it back, as she could beat the boy up if he persisted on trying to find out what she knew, but whatever. It didn't matter. They shared something in common after all. They were both manipulated by Heather… At least she'd have someone to share her thirst for revenge with.

"Wow, for a know-it-all, you don't even know what REALLY happened!" said Eva.

Noah was growing weary of this. All she was doing was calling him names, reminding him of his time on the island with Cody, and saying the same things over and over again! She was probably just making fun of him because of his accidental kissing Cody on the ear thing… He was about to walk away, but he had heard something that caught his interest quickly.

"Truthfully, everyone knows that the goth girl can't stand the dorky wanna-be…"

He stopped at that… What did that mean? He thought Cody and Gwen were friends, now! Wasn't that why Cody had ditched him in the first place? He thought they must have been on good terms if Cody was following her now… Eva continued.

"She got to you, didn't she?" Eva asked.

"Who?" Noah replied, suddenly confused from the sudden topic changed from Gwen to someone else.

"Heather. That lying, bratty, conniving little WRETCH!" shouted Eva, punching a wall next to her, making Noah jump a little. "I saw everything, you know!"

"Saw WHAT?" Noah was really irritated now. Eva was not giving him any answers! She was just telling him everything BUT what she was trying to say. She was panting from her temper letting loose a little, but had, with a lot of effort, calmed down a little. Enough to face Noah again and explain her point.

"… Heather…" she said, trying REALLY hard to not let loose again. "… lied to you AND the other dork. I saw it happen from your window, and heard everything"

Heather lied to both him and Cody? Why? What was this suppose to mean? He raised an eyebrow at Eva, and she couldn't contain her anger anymore…

"She told you that your dork had a new friend, you IDIOT!!! IT WAS A LIE!! " she screamed. "She planned for you guys to fight so you wouldn't be a threat to her!! Oh, come with me!!"

With this, she grabbed his arm and dragged him into the elevator. Noah was definitely scared, but yet, thoughts were still running through his mind like a roller coaster at maximum speed… Heather lied to her own team members? What was the point of that? Sure, after enough people left the island, it'd be every camper for themselves, but what was the point in attacking their friendship so early? Then realization hit him like a rocket…

…Cody never replaced him…

Yet, Noah knew his words exactly, and he still couldn't understand why he had said that Gwen would've probably been his only friend… Cody still had him at the time, so why…

With these thoughts, he hadn't noticed that Eva was dragging him to a room in the first floor that had different television screens on it. Probably a security room. However, when Noah looked at them, he saw that there were scenes of things happening that were on the island. He also saw that someone had been sitting in the chair watching it all.

"You, Home School! Move it, now!!" Eva shouted at Ezekiel, who turned the spinning chair to see the two of them, and stood to high five Noah. However, Noah refused.

"Dude, finally! Someone who agrees with me that guys are better than girls!" he said, earning a punch into the wall by Eva, much to Noah's surprise, and fright… They both sat down in two other spinning chairs as Eva looked to see the controls and turned a television screen to the day of her being kicked off (much to her displeasure). Noah had watched as a camera man had caught Heather and Cody on the Dock of shame talking…

_"You know what I heard from a certain blue-haired roommate of mine? I heard she thinks you're totally cute!"_

_"You mean Gwen-?"_

_"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Point is, she thinks you're really cute, and you know what would make her practically DROOL over you? If you were to sit by her side as she slept. I'm sure she'd LOVE for you to let her know in her sleep that you'd be there for her, no matter what…"_

By this time, Noah's hands were in fists again. Heather was the reason why he and Cody got in that argument to begin with! How could he have been so stupid!? He continued to watch, and realized that Cody didn't mean to go to Gwen before him…

_"I dunno… That doesn't sound like Gwen…"_

_"Oh, come on! She may look all tough on the outside, but on the inside, she's a marshmallow! Besides, I'm her roommate! Would I ever steer you wrong?"_

Noah's hands were clenched so tight, his knuckles were turning white. The very question that Heather had just said had burned him to his very core. If it weren't for her, he'd still be on that island. He'd still be friends with Cody, his very first friend ever… He probably wouldn't have realized his liking towards Cody so quickly, and would've stayed on the island… How could he have been so stupid…?

_"You know, maybe I should see if Noah's okay, first… He did seem a bit upset…" Cody said. Heather's patience was wearing VERY thin…_

_"Come on, you're friends, aren't you? I'm sure he'll understand!"_

Friends… That's what they USED to be until that b demon/b interfered… The tape had continued to when Cody had been in the girl's cabin, talking to a sleeping Gwen… Noah's eyes widened as he heard the words that broke him again…

_"… You know, you're a real cool girl… You probably think that I'm kinda dorky and weird, but… I… I really think you're the coolest person I've ever met… I'd do anything to be your friend… If just your friend… To tell you the truth, you may be my only friend now…"_

Noah wanted to look away, but Eva wouldn't let him.

"Hey, pay attention to this part…" she said. Doing what she said, he looked at the screen again.

_"… I had Noah, but… I'm not sure he wants to be my friend, now… He's probably feeling very awkward about the accident, but… I'm not worried about it. I already told him he didn't have to feel awkward around a friend, so…"_

Noah watched this part in amazement, shock, and completely wanted to slap himself in the face. Cody didn't want the friendship to end, and didn't mean for it to sound that way… Cody thought bNoah/b didn't want to be friends with him anymore… All part of Heather's terrible scheming… He even stuck to his word about not feeling awkward around him…

_"…He's a really cool guy, you know? You could get along with him if you just knew about him… Maybe a little anti-social, but I guess having a big family wouldn't be such a joy in the first place… Sigh… I guess I should go talk to him now, huh? Make sure we're still friends"_

Noah watched as Cody stood, covering Gwen with the blanket more, and left the room, heading for the Gopher boy cabin. Heading to the end of their friendship… Eva stopped the tape, and looked at Noah for a response. However, neither of the two noticed Ezekiel (who had tissues in his nose from the nosebleed that Eva gave him when she punched him) was still in the room, leaning on Noah's chair to watch.

"Dude, that's one really messed up chick" he said, and Eva looked like she was about to kill him. "I feel for ya, man… If I had any friends, I'd feel terrible about hearing something like that and not waiting to hear the rest of it, too"

Eva looked at him for a sec, then put her arm down. Noah was still staring at the screen, not believing his eyes, or his ears… As much as he wanted to punch something, he wanted more to crawl in a hole and die… It was neither of their fault. Heather had lied to them both and made sure that their friendship wouldn't be a problem for her later… He hated her. He hated her so much… Eva seemed to notice this, and rolled her eyes.

"So now you know. The question that stands now, is what are you going to do about it?" she asked, smirking.

"I'm… going to make her life b miserable/b…" he replied, fury in his eyes.

She grinned evilly with him at that, along with Ezekiel. Looking around and putting his hateful thoughts of Heather aside, Noah realized slowly that he was making friends… with THESE two! Who'd have thought he'd become friends with EVA and EZEKIEL!? He actually wouldn't have even said a word or given them a second glance… Had Cody not helped him open up a bit…He smiled. Cody's done a lot for him on the island…

No wonder why he liked him…

He sighed. He used to doubt his orientation. Sure, he once thought he was gay, and debated it with himself about it. But now he had to be sure. He was jealous of Gwen, as pathetic as it was for him to say… And he really like Cody… But it was hopeless, he knew Cody liked Gwen a lot. Even if the girl hadn't returned his feelings now, there was still the possibility that she's come onto him, or Cody wouldn't give up… Suddenly, fear plastered itself onto Noah's face as he looked at the screens.

"Wait a minute, so all this is on TV?" he asked.

"You're lucky. The producers didn't want any 'Gay-Haters' boycotting this show" Eva said, pointing accusatively at him.

"Yeah, and even if they didn't know your 'preferences', it still hints at it. You'd be surprised at how many people speculate these things on the internet about other shows" said Ezekiel.

Noah sighed in relief. The last thing he needed other than his family and Cody knowing about it was for the WHOLE world to know it! He looked at them, who had been smirking at him, and his expression changed back to his bored one as he crossed his arms.

"So, um… Are we… going to be telling this to anyone…?" asked Noah, really hopeful as he looked at them.

"Help me get back at Heather, and I'm sworn to secrecy. I'll even keep Home School's mouth shut" said Eva, pointing to Ezekiel.

"No need for that. I'd just like to see how this all turns out, even though I AM a little disturbed at you'd actually LIKE going to a sausage fest" said Ezekiel.

BAM! Eva had punched Ezekiel into the wall again, and Noah's face had gone completely red at the accusation. He cleared his throat as he tried to get rid of the blush. He noticed Eva's hand extended out to him, and he gladly shook it.

"Deal" Noah said.

He never knew when it was that Noah started thinking these two were absolute losers. Talking to them now was actually pretty fun… At least, the planning to get back at Heather part was… Then something else came to Noah's mind as he looked at Eva. Why exactly was she being so cool with him?

"So… Why are you helping me, anyway?" he asked.

"Because to get back at Heather for getting me kicked off the island, I'll need help" she said.

He wasn't even going to ask for the specifics about her kick off. All he knew was that he and Cody could be friends again… Even if that was all, he missed the dorky teen, and even if he DID end up with Gwen (By some miracle), he would be there for him… After all, Cody was his very first friend. It was the least he could do. Noah may have liked him. He may have liked him a lot, but he'd rather have Cody as a friend than nothing. As long as Cody never found out his secret, they'd stay friends. His feelings didn't matter. He didn't want to lose Cody, and he wouldn't.

He'd make sure of it.


	6. How He Came Out Of The Closet

Disclaimer: Like I've said MANY times before. Don't own Total Drama Island or ANYTHING referenced in this story!

* * *

The sun rose to shine over the island that was Camp Wawanakwa, awakening all the campers in their rooms. Cody's eyes, however, were still awake from tossing ad turning the night before… And the night before that… Ever since he read Noah's journal, he couldn't seem to get any sleep. Sure, he missed the guy, but what if Noah LIKED him…? He liked Gwen. Or, at least he DID…

His brain was going mad ever since he found out Noah was gay… He couldn't even know how Noah felt about him because he ripped all the pages out about Camp Wawanakwa. What was he going to do…? He wasn't gay, but Noah was a really cool guy, and he just couldn't bring it upon himself to tell Noah that. Not with all they'd gone through…

But honestly, the only problem Cody was having was with himself. How did HE feel about it? He wasn't sure. When he thought about their talent show challenge, he remembered making many attempts to get Gwen to notice him. Yet, when he thought about it, he'd never made so many attempts on any girl. He figured finding out Noah was gay made him think he was, too.

But he tried to deny it…

He'd never doubted himself so much before in his entire life… What was he going to do? Hurt Noah? Lose one of his only friends on the island? Cody was just too nice for his own good. Besides, Noah was just beginning to become friendly. But if what Leshawna told him was true, Noah left the island on purpose. Why? Was it something he did? The look that Noah gave him before he stepped into that boat hinted something alright…

…BUT _WHAT!?_

What could make Noah want to leave the island? And what did his last words mean?

_"…Have fun with your new best friend…"_

What could Noah have meant? Who was his new best friend? Owen? No, if anything, Cody would've thought Owen was NOAH'S new best friend. Trent? He barely talked to the guy! Trent was Cody's competition after all! He didn't say ANYTHING to Justin (Or the other way around). Justin wasn't even on the island anymore! He never talked to any of the girls but Gwen…

…Oh, shoot… Was Noah **jealous** of Gwen…?

Was THAT why Noah got mad at him? Because he went to check on Gwen first before going to see him? Why would that bother him? They had only been friends at the time! Nothing could have possibly made Noah jealous enough to put _MUD_ in his _BED!!_

He couldn't TAKE this! He couldn't go a few HOURS without thinking about the anti-social know-it-all! He stood up from his bed. He needed a shower. The little barf-fest that Bridgette had during yesterday's talent show had really stunk up the place. REALLY. The water had run down his hair, cooling him off. He couldn't believe how badly this was affecting him! He didn't do ANYTHING! He wasn't even GAY! How can someone who acted like a jerk to him from the beginning be making him feel THIS bad when he wasn't around anymore?

He sighed, drying off and getting changed. The day was probably going to be hell for him. He tried so hard to get Gwen's attention, but in the end, he found out that she liked Trent. A LOT. Heather reading her diary to the whole world was brutal, yet informative for him. Sure, he was disappointed, but somehow, the situation was the same as with Noah. If Noah DID like him, he'd want to at least stay friends, right? Even if Cody didn't return those feelings… Gwen didn't return HIS feelings, but he at least wanted to be friends with her. So, yeah, he'd stop trying, but… Would that make Noah stop trying? He sure SEEMED like the type to give up easily. He seriously needed to somehow get Noah out of his head.

What was so interesting about the dark, intelligent teen, anyway?! Cody didn't know. Maybe it was his knowledge of games? His respect for them? His defending Cody while they had that hot tub party? Maybe it was his kissing Cody's ear- NO!! Sure, he'll admit, Noah's lips were soft- NO!!! KNOCK IT OFF!!

He couldn't take much more of this!! Anymore and he'll die from his head blowing up into little pieces of dirt! He wasn't gay! He was NOT! No way! He didn't like guys, he liked girls!

Noah would have to understand that!

When he thought back about yesterday, his heart shattered. Finding out Gwen didn't return his feelings was awful… He wondered how Noah would feel, considering he was Noah's very first friend… He didn't know what to do. He needed to talk to someone about this… But who?The thought would have to wait until the challenge was over. Their challenge was a survival test, and they had to stay one night in the forest. Surviving the night in the forest didn't seem like a big deal at first… Until a bear had arrived to their camp while Izzy went to pee. Everyone was utterly freaked out.

Especially Cody, who peed in his own pants from the fright of possibly getting killed by a bear. While all of them had climbed up the tree (Heather's idea), Cody's thoughts traveled back to Noah AGAIN! What would Noah have done had he still been on the island? Run for his life? No, he'd probably fall unconscious from the loss of breath again. Besides, he ran like a girl. How did Cody not see how feminine he was earlier? He was also a neat freak! He had to tell Noah to eat with his hands during the first part of the awake-a-thon challenge!

He so should've seen that Noah was gay!

**WHAT WAS HE DOING!?!** He was thinking about NOAH while he sat in a TREE, hiding from a BEAR that would most definitely KILL them had it gotten to them before the next morning!! Heather and Gwen were arguing about what to do now that they had been in the tree (Not that he was surprised).

"Hey, OWEN! You're the bear-killing expert! What do we do now?" shouted Heather.

"How should _I_ know!?" he asked, clinging to the tree for dear life.

"Dude, you just told us you KILLED a BEAR!" said Leshawna.

"I was being _THEATRICAL_!!" shouted Owen. Cody rolled his eyes at this.

"This is ALL YOUR FAULT!" Heather accused. "If you hadn't been making those bear sounds, it wouldn't have been attracted here in the first place!!"

"It's probably already eaten Izzy!" shouted Lindsay, clinging to the tree as much as Owen did.

"Then it shouldn't be hungry anymore!" shouted Heather, earning gasps and shocked looks from her fellow teammates. She scoffed at them. "What? This is survival of the fittest! She should've just peed in her pants like _Cody_!"

This made Cody bow his head in shame. He couldn't help it if he had a wetting problem when he was scared! And no one was around to defend him now… Somehow, he really did wish that Noah was on the island with him right now… At least he'd have someone to talk to. Owen was okay, but the guy WAS after all, a toxic gas tank! Justin never talked period, and wasn't even on the island anymore… and Trent… Well, he had a little trouble talking to Trent since the Talent show…

Who was going to help him now…?

He sighed. Why did things have to end up this way? Cody told him that they wouldn't have to feel awkward around each other, but how was he supposed to feel that way when Noah had been GAY? Nothing was the same between them now. Especially since Noah wasn't even on the island anymore. Could he really believe Leshawna's words? Could Noah really have wanted to be friends with him again? The problem was that Cody didn't even know the problem! How was he supposed to fix something that he didn't even know happened. That is, IF anything happened!Suddenly, Leshawna had fallen out of the tree, and everyone could only watch in horror as the bear had slowly walked to her, its teeth growling and completely bared. She screamed as they all yelled at her to run away. Everything seemed hopeless, and it looked as though she were a goner…

…But they heard a giggle…

"Hey, are you okay?"

Silence.

"Uh, did that bear just ask a question?" Leshawna asked, pointing at the talking bear.

The bear had stood on both of its back legs and grabbed its own head. Pulling it off, everyone looked to see that it had been IZZY in a bear suit!! People were definitely not taking this too well. Especially Heather. However, Owen seemed to be perfectly fine with the psycho girl's not-very-funny prank. After a while, they had all been cooking the fish, chatting about the little things, and wondering how the other team had been doing. Cody, however, had something on his mind right now…

"Yo, Cody! You okay, dude? You look down" said Trent, checking on the cooking fish.

Cody looked up to see Trent, and noticed that everyone was staring at him. Well, all except Heather, who didn't give a rat's $$ about him or anyone else on her team. He nodded.

"Yeah, it's all good, bra!" he said, crossing his arms, but remembering his pants and covering them again.

Everyone had been giving him a look as though none of them believed him. Trent and Gwen looked at each other for a moment. Leshawna had looked at Cody, and walked over to him. Cody looked at her as she sat next to him and patted him on the back. He looked at everyone with a confused stare, and Leshawna finally said something, clearing her throat before doing so.

"Hun, we KNOW something's up. Now you got a choice; You either tell us, or let it bother you for the rest of the competition and possibly lose because of it" she said. Cody didn't want to lose… He sighed.

"Leshawna, can I talk to you about it later?" he asked, and Leshawna patted him on back approvingly.

"Sure thing, hun! I'll be all ears" she said, before Trent announced that the fish was ready.

Cody looked at the ground. Could he really do this? Could he tell Leshawna what he was thinking about? Who he was thinking about? Could he tell her that Noah was gay, and that there was a possible chance that Noah liked him? What did he want to hear from Leshawna? What would Leshawna tell him? These questions echoed in Cody's head at least fifty times… He never even noticed the bear that came by their campsite, sniffing Izzy, who had still been in her bear costume.

When they actually found out it was a real bear this time, Cody had once again wet himself. Yeah, REAL cool, Cody… What would his friends say when he got back from the show…? What would Noah say…? As Cody climbed up the tree AGAIN, he had to wonder…

What would Noah be? The uke or the seme?

Cody wanted **SO** to SLAP himself!!! WHAT THE HELL WAS HE THINKING ABOUT AT THIS TIME!?! Maybe that talk with Leshawna WAS needed! Noah's been haunting Cody since that look he was given, and Cody didn't know if he could TAKE much more! Unfortunately, that talk with Leshawna had to wait for the entire night, since they had been stuck in the tree the entire time that the bear was around. Of course their backs were stiff and such, but who was going to complain when they were still alive at the very least? … Oh, wait. Heather would. Whatever, they had to get back to the campsite before the other team or they'd lose the challenge! Running as far as they could in their condition, they had made it in time to see…

…that the other team beat them first…

Great, ANOTHER one of them was going home tonight… Well, at least that's what Cody thought at first. Chris had took notice that two of the Killer Bass were missing, and that once the two got back, their team technically won! And what did they get…? A TRIP TO THE TUCK SHOP!! YEAH!!!

They had been relaxing in the hot tub, once again. Cody had sat himself in and relaxed while he could as Owen and the others had eaten all the snacks they could muster. Relaxing. That's what it would look like from the outside. Right now, he had been thinking about Noah, and what he was going to do… Should he hurt Noah? Well, either way, he'd have to… He's not gay…

…right?

It was times like these that he'd begin to doubt. Sure, he thought girls were nice, but guys were cool to be around. It was fun being around guys, but appropriate to be around girls… What was Cody to do? His best friend being gay… He couldn't go on like this… He hadn't noticed that everyone had gone inside of their cabins already… Everyone except Leshawna…

It didn't matter what he told her, anymore. The camera crew got so bored of watching him in the tub they decided to watch the other campers. What was he going to tell her? The truth! All he knew now was that his friend was gay, and that he wasn't, and that Noah would have to accept that.

"Boy, are you STILL hung up about Noah?" she asked, startling Cody.

Cody shook his head immediately.

"No! I'm not! Why would I be hung up on that stupid, smart, lazy jerk!?" He nearly shouted, punching his fist into the hot tub water. Leshawna gave him a sympathetic look.

"Dude… What's bugging you?" she asked. Cody sighed, sinking back into the tub again.

"Noah… left his journal here in Camp… It's in the cabin, and I read a part of it…" he said, but paused. Should he really go on? Was it right to tell Leshawna secrets that weren't his…?

"Boy, what in the world's wrong with you?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"You do NOT go reading another person's personal thoughts, fool! Did you not learn ANYTHING from yesterday's talent show?" she asked, pointing accusing fingers at him.

"B-But this was BEFORE the talent show! I read it right after he left the island!" he said, calming Leshawna down a little. She cleared her throat.

"Go on" she said.

"Um… Basically… I read that he's…" he paused again, taking a deep breath. "…gay… Noah's gay…"

Leshawna's eyes widened a little, but then dropped back to their normal size as Cody sunk a little more into the tub, the water level reaching his nose. The awkward silence was bugging the HELL outta Cody, and he looked to see her reaction. She didn't look surprised at all.

"Is that all? You're a real oblivious dude, y' know?" she said, and Cody's eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

"So you _knew!?!_" he asked.

"Shoo, that boy was the fruitiest thing on this island, Hun! I could see it! You see big tough guys picking on them in my neighborhood everyday!" she said, flicking her hand down as if saying it was really nothing.

"What?!" Cody said, nearly getting a heart attack as he imagined Noah getting beaten up by a big guy.

"Chill out, man. I was only playing with ya! Look, just tell me what the problem is"

"Well… I know we just met each other, but…" he started.

"You think he LIKES you?" she asked. Cody nodded. "…You really ARE oblivious!"Cody's heart sank in his chest. So it really was true. Noah DID like him… What was he going to do!? CODY WAS NOT- ABSOLUTELY **NOT** GAY!! What was he going to do…?

"Look, man… I can't really tell you what to do in this kind of situation. It all just depends on how you feel about the guy" she said. Cody looked at her. "So… How do you feel? Think about everything you guys did together, and try to focus those thoughts into what you want to feel, and what you REALLY feel… Because there's actually a really big difference between the two. Once you separate them, you have your problem"

Cody looked at her like she was nuts. Compare his feelings at all the memories?

Like…

The eagerness he felt when trying to be friends with Noah on the first day?

The anxiety he felt when Noah jumped off the cliff?

The amazement from Noah defending him in the hot tub?

The pain of Noah suddenly telling him to back off and putting mud in his bed?

The regret he felt when he couldn't say anything to him while he walked to the Boat of Losers…?

The warmth he felt when Noah caught him after the tub party in his arms…?

Or the warmth he felt when Noah kissed his ear…?

The confusion that haunted him about Noah's eyes when he left…?… Or the surprise in finding out Noah was gay…?

…Surprise…? Was that the right word? Shock didn't exactly sound accurate, either… He didn't know what it was he felt when he read the journal and found out Noah was gay… It was a jolt in his chest, and a gurgling feeling in his stomach, but he didn't know what it was exactly! It felt a little too nice to be a negative feeling like disgust. No, Cody wasn't disgusted in it. Yet, he was bothered by it… But why…?

And yet… It also felt like Cody didn't give a damn about Noah being gay… What bothered Cody about finding out this information, though? It definitely had something to do about Noah leaving…

When Cody first met the guy, Noah had been someone intriguing. A guy with no friends? A little depressing, but he couldn't leave the guy alone at first. Even when Noah first stepped onto the dock when he first arrived and smart-mouthed the Juvy guy, Duncan, Cody felt that something was peculiar about the short, know-it-all… Was it… interest? Had Cody been obliviously _interested_ in Noah at the time?

What about when they had talked in the hot tub about their school lives…? What did he feel when Noah defended him? Part of it was definitely amazement. Could it have been… _flattery_? Was he flattered that Noah had even BOTHERED to help him out in such an embarrassing moment?

And the warmth he felt… What was THAT?

The loss of words when he looked in Noah's eyes… The things he wanted to say, but couldn't… What WERE they…? What did he want to tell Noah? That he wanted to be friends again? No… He wanted to say something else… Not friends… Cody gasped at the thought, and he realized…

"Dude, you still in there?" she asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

"Huh?"

"Maybe the water's getting to you, dude! Your face is completely **red**!" she said, putting her hand on his forehead to check his temperature.

Cody finally realized it. He wanted to see Noah again, and trying to push him away only made Cody think about him more… By trying to push his feelings onto Gwen, his _true_ feelings for Noah were pushing themselves more into his mind to be realized. What kind of idiot WAS he? He knew his problem all along! It was never Noah that was the problem! It was Cody himself, who was too stubborn to see what he was looking for. He wanted an answer, and he refused to believe it at first because he thought it was wrong…

But it wasn't… It was almost no different from his feelings for Gwen… So, he wasn't gay, he was just bi… right? Like it mattered. He knew what was bothering him all this time.

Noah left the island. Cody didn't realize what he wanted to say to him, yet, but he knew now… Odd, how in such a short time, this could all happen to him. But it did, and Cody wasn't going to deny it like he had since the day he found out… The feeling he had when he found out Noah was gay…

…was joy…

If Noah liked him, he was going to be okay with it. It truth, maybe that was what Cody was hoping or all along. Somehow, Cody felt lighter now. That's why he didn't want to hurt Noah. He never wanted to in the first place… Why? Well…

Cody liked Noah back!


	7. How They're So Close, Yet So Far

Disclaimer: Don't own it. Just read and enjoy. However, there is someone in this chapter that I've completely made up for the purpose of this story.

* * *

Playa Des Losers was still a peaceful place right around the corner of Camp Wawanakwa. The sun shone brightly, the pool water had sparkled with cleanliness, and the residents were just as peaceful…

"EZEKIEL, YOU BETTER BE **_RUNNING FOR YOUR LIFE_**!!!" barked a low, gruff, voice that was Eva's as she stomped around the five star resembling resort that was Playa Des Losers. Apparently, Ezekiel accidentally dropped his breakfast on her, and couldn't help but laugh at it, which greatly angered Eva.

In the midst of al this chaos, our favorite reading smarty-pants, however, had been sitting at the refreshment bar, reading his book again and just plain enjoying the day. Hell, it was a lot better than being at Camp Wawanakwa after what had happened with Heather… He was still going to get back at her for that…

Speaking of Camp Wawanakwa, three more people had lost the competition, already. Well, two did. Izzy was chased off the island by the RCMP. Somehow, she ended up ditching them and being allowed to come to Playa Des Losers like a normal teen. Well, as normal as a person like her could get, anyway…

The other two had been Katie and Justin. Katie had been CRYING ever since she got kicked off the island, saying how she missed Sadie and such. He would've thought it was stupid, had he not wished he could see Cody… Another loser was Justin, which surprised him greatly… Well, the guy kinda irked him. Come on, a guy who was the exact opposite of what Noah himself is. And Tyler… The guy was a wanna-be jock, what else could he say?

He hadn't noticed Izzy coming up behind the counter of the refreshment bar. A wicked grin plastered on her face as she snaked her arms around him and snatched the book out of his hands, startling him.

"Hey, Noah!" she shouted, scaring the boy into falling into the pool that surrounded the refreshment bar.

He grunted in frustration, but politely (with a lot of restrain) nodded in greeting, knowing how scary the girl can actually be when angered or such.

"So, I heard that you have a thing for Cody!" she said, and Noah's eyes widened.

"WHAT?" he asked, eyes bulging out of his head. She grinned at him, obviously letting him know how obvious he was in front of everyone, which is something Noah's been hearing a LOT of lately.

"Noah, let me tell you something!" she said, motioning for him to get out of the water and come closer. He did so, grunting. "No, closer!" she whispered. He did so, reluctantly. She started to sing into his ear.

"_I kissed a guy, and I liked it_-"she started, and Noah grew frustrated enough as to grab his book and try to leave, thinking she was only making fun of him. She grabbed his shoulder to stop him.

"Hey, wait! I'm only kidding! I just wanted to tell you how I think it's good that you guys are together!" she said, patting him on the back. He looked at her crossly.

"We're… Not together" he corrected. She laughed.

"Well, if you're not together, then you will be!" she said, making his eyes widen.

She was taking this oddly well… Then again, if Eva could take it well, then he could assume the crazy weirdo could, too. He decided to ask her something off the topic of Cody, who was still an uncomfortable topic for him.

"You're… not bothered by this..?" he wasn't surprised, but he wasn't exactly expecting it, either.

"No way! I wish you guys luck, and tell me when you're together!"

That was the last thing she said before jumping from behind the counter and into the pool water to swim. It was odd, but somehow, Noah felt that was Izzy's way of telling him that she thought it was cool, and it felt as though she wasn't irritated with him like she had been the day of the dodge ball challenge when he did nothing but criticize their progress. She must've been over it, and assumed they were friends, as she kept waving to Noah when she did something funny to the others. He kinda liked the idea of the many friends he'd been getting since coming onto this show.

Bored out of his mind, Noah looked around to take notice of the workers going around the place to keep Playa Des Losers a clean, presentable place for the losers. Oddly enough, there were a lot of young workers, probably interns, who were either cleaning or recording everything that was going on. Noah, had buried his nose into his book, however, so they didn't pay much attention to him…

However, he kept getting the feeling someone was watching him, and looked around cautiously. Maybe he was being paranoid. None of the losers were watching him, as they were all busy having the fun they could while they still resided here. He looked around at the workers, as one of them could have a camera and be trying to get something to show Chris later. However, they didn't seem to be doing anything to bother the boy…

Well, there was one person. A hateful look was plastered on this worker's face, though… And he was looking straight at Noah… His intentions unknown…

* * *

Noah took the elevator to the top floor, as he wanted to get a new book to read in the meantime. Nothing was really interesting about the place, other than the great wireless connections it had when it came to Noah's laptop. Walking into his room, however, he noticed that his door was open, when he had clearly locked it. A little bothered by this, he walked in…

His eyes widened.

His room was a complete MESS! Everything was ransacked, and his bags were looked through by someone. His books were all over the floor, and his mattress was on the floor. The lamps were on the ground, and some of them were even broken. What frightened Noah the most was the graffiti that tainted the once pure white walls that surrounded his room…

_FAG_

**DISEASE**

**_PLAGUE_**

Noah, stared at these words for what seemed like an eternity. What… Who could have done this? It couldn't have been Eva or Ezekiel. Eva didn't seem to have anything against him, and Ezekiel was totally cool with him! He highly doubted that any of the other campers would do this to him.

Izzy seemed to actually LIKE his orientation. Katie… Well, Katie was in depression since her voting off. Justin's been doing nothing but diving and chilling outside in the sun, where his beauty would shine. Tyler would have tried to break the door down to get in… It was true that they all probably knew about him, considering how plainly obvious Eva told him he had been… But none of them could have done it. It had to be one of the workers or interns…

He looked at the door. There was nothing wrong with it. It was as thought no one had even touched it. The lock didn't even look picked. One of the workers had to have done this… The only way they could've gotten in was either the balcony (Which he rolled out immediately), and the door. All the employees were given full access to the rooms of the Playa Des Losers, so it made sense…

But who?

In any case, he knew where he could find out. He headed towards the elevator, locking his door again on the way out. The last thing he needed was for any of the other losers to walk by and see what his room looked like right now. He punched in the first floor and was on his way to the security room.

As he stood outside of the room, he opened the door and walked in. As he did however, he saw that on the screens, the one that viewed outside the rooms of the top floor was already playing a playback from earlier today, as the time on it had told him so… He saw that coming from an elevator, a guy that looked about a year older than him with spikey blonde and black hair had walked out of the elevator and went past Eva and Ezekiel's rooms to head straight for his room. His assumptions were right, as he took out a key and went straight in.

Who was that? He'd seen the guy around the pool a couple of times, but he never even knew the guy. What was his game? Before he could watch anymore, he heard the door lock itself and turned around to see the guy on the screen, staring hatefully towards Noah. He walked towards him with a stride that made Noah back away into the chair that was in front of the screens.

"Saw my art, did ya?" he asked, with a tone in his voice that sent shivers down Noah's spine.

Something was bad about this, and he knew it. Normally, he wouldn't be scared around bullies, but this guy seemed to have something against him, and would most definitely kick his butt had Noah said or did anything wrong. There was something nostalgic about this… Noah tried to move around him, but the blonde had blocked him.

"Where ya going, _fag_?" he asked, menacingly. Noah winced at the nickname.

Noah was starting to panic inside his head. He knew the problem. This worker had something against homosexuals, and he was exploiting it to its fullest. Noah tried going the other way, trying not to say anything to the older teen. The guy didn't look strong. He was actually pretty slim figured, but he was definitely taller than Noah, and the look in his eyes didn't help the situation.

"I said, **'Where ya going?!'**" he shouted, grabbing Noah by the wrist and throwing him into the wall closest to him.

Noah grunted with pain from the impact and slid down the wall as the blonde had approached him again. Seeing as there was no other way around, Noah made a break for the door, but the older blonde had beaten him to it. Noah underestimated him. That throw to the wall was stronger than he originally thought it'd be and his speed was a LOT better than his own. The blonde took hold of Noah's hair and once again threw him into the wall, face first. Noah could feel a thick, warm liquid running down his nose and wiped it with his hand, looking at it. He froze with fear.

Blood.

As he stayed on the ground, the blonde came up to him and kicked him in the side, causing a yelp to escape Noah's lips. He kicked him again. Noah tried to get up. He wanted to get out of there so badly. However, they had been locked in the room, and he knew there was no escape. He'd have to outrun the blonde and have enough time to unlock the door and bolt, which he knew he couldn't do.

One last kick had Noah's eyes stinging with tears. The salty taste of his blonde had run with them, and dripped onto the ground. Finally having enough with the kicking, the taller of the two had lifted Noah's weak form off the ground, and his feet dangled in the air. From the corner of his eye, Noah could read the blonde boy's nametag.

_Reed_

"People like you disgusts me"

Noah winced at those words. He remembered those words… His brother had told him the same thing when his siblings found out… His older brother had never spoke to him since then. His sisters had ignored him in hopes that their brother wouldn't hurt them, too… Not that he could blame them. His brother had been a rather abusive fellow, but his parents had always been too busy to be aware of this little fact…

"You think it's cool to spread your disease among people here, huh?" Reed spat in his face, and pushed Noah's fragile figure into the wall, hitting his head harshly.

Noah couldn't say anything. Panicking, and fearing for his life, he tried to struggle out of Reed's grasp by grabbing his hands to force him to let go. However, at the touch of Noah's hands, Reed dropped him, and kicked him in his side again.

"**DON'T TOUCH ME, FAG!!**" he spat again.

He lifted Noah off the ground again. This time, looking into Noah's eyes as if to get him to pay attention.

"You listen here… I _hate_ people like you… Don't go spreading your infection to innocent others" he spat again.

Noah's eyes widened as only one person came to mind as he said that…

_Cody_

"You stay away from everyone else here… And you won't get _killed_ before the competition ends… Chris will pull a LOT of strings to explain your absence, but it's better than you turning any more contestants into anymore of _you_!"

His angered face turned into a smirk when he noticed Noah's unfazed look.

"…And if that isn't enough for you, then I can always go after that other dorky teen… Your friend, I presume?" he asked.

Noah's eyes narrowed. Cody… Noah wouldn't let Reed go after Cody…

"He doesn't seem to be gay, with all those attempts he made on that goth girl… Even if he _did_ like you back, however, I'm sure he'd be heartbroken enough to stay straight once you keep your distance… I won't have to go after him as long as you back off from everyone here…"Reed dropped Noah to the ground and walked towards the door.

"Remember… one mess up, and you're both dead meat"

With that, he left the room, leaving Noah on the ground, beaten up and broken on the inside. The pain in his sides seared through his body as he tried to stand. As he tried, however, he noticed on one of the screens that the newest loser had arrived to the island. The loser had been completely wrapped in bandages, however, and Noah couldn't tell who it was at first.

Suddenly, he noticed that the boat of losers stopped at the dock for Playa Des Losers, and Chef carried the loser in his wheelchair out of the boat and placed him gently on the wooden surface of the dock. Katie, Tyler, and Izzy, who bothered to come see the newest loser, had walked over to him in shock and concern as Chef stepped back into the boat. Noah panted as the pain in his sides grew worse, and horror struck his face as Chef said his last comment before driving off back to the campsite…

"Take care of Cody, there, will ya? Show him to his room. The workers will watch over him for until he heals" he said.

Noah's thoughts immediately stopped… Cody was here. Noah was in the security room in horrid condition. He had to get out of there before anyone could notice. However, as he tried, he stumbled a little. Luckily, the elevator wasn't too far from the security room, and he headed straight for it. He barely noticed the chattering that came into the lobby as he slowly walked in the elevator, using the arm that wasn't holding his sides to support him. He staggered in and closed the door quickly. Not wanting anyone else to see him this way.

Unknown to Noah, however, someone DID see him. The recent loser who was bandaged up had caught a small glimpse of him as they headed towards the elevator. At first, Cody was in pain EVERYWHERE and a little disappointed in the fact that he lost, but it was all good. One look at this place, and Cody knew he'd have been better off here than back at Camp Wawanakwa. Besides, all the losers seemed to be here, and there was only one person he was looking for right now…

However, he found him, but only a small glimpse as the boy he had been looking for stumbled into the elevator, having to support himself with an arm against the wall. At first, Cody thought it was someone else, but seeing the red sweater vest, blue collared shirt, and the dark brown hair that was almost black, Cody's eyes widened with joy.

_'Noah?'_ he thought as Justin pushed him towards the elevator.

As happy as he was to see that the boy was still around for him to talk to, he was also a bit concerned. Noah looked sick or something, and the way he had walked made Cody's suspicions grow. However, until he was healed, Cody couldn't really do much about it. But he _will_ talk to Noah before the competition ends.

He swore it.

* * *

Noah staggered out of the elevator, glad that Cody or anyone else hadn't seen him, yet, still wincing as the pain in his sides grew worse every time he moved. He walked to his door and closed it behind him, locking it and making sure no one would be able to come in. Turning towards his bed, he limped over to it and collapsed onto it.

Big mistake.

His sides hurt even more, and he shut his eyes tight at the pain. Remembering Reed's threats, he made a promise to himself. He wouldn't leave this room at all until the competition ended. Not for food, not for anything. Leaving the room would mean possibly running into Cody or the others, and therefore, causing Reed to hurt him, and possibly Cody… He had to keep Cody safe… Eve if it meant he couldn't apologize to him, even if it meant him starving to death, he had to make sure he never left that room. For Cody's sake.

Reed was serious, that he knew, and he couldn't risk putting Cody in danger. Cody meant too much to him. Cody wasn't just a friend to Noah anymore… Cody treated him better than anyone ever has before. Cody didn't judge him… Noah couldn't allow it.

It wasn't the only reason, though. Deep down, Noah knew Reed had been right. Cody was too good to be treated the way Noah had been just a few moments ago. As much as he hated to think about it, Noah was gay, and Cody wasn't. But Reed had been right. Noah might affect Cody, and make him become gay, too. Of course, Noah knew that chances of that were little, but couldn't risk it. He couldn't even be friends with Cody anymore, for that would also be risking a lot. Noah wouldn't allow someone with such an angelic personality to be tainted by his 'disease', as Reed called it…

Noah always knew it was wrong for him to like guys, and his siblings have told him this before, but never had he felt so dirty in his entire life before… With his siblings, it seemed like nothing, for that's what happened between most families… But now he realized how much people can hate those who are different, and never. NEVER had Noah ever felt so revolting before…

He never wanted Cody to go through these things. That was why Noah had left the island in the first place… And now that Cody was here, Noah could do nothing but stay in this room. As messy as it was, Noah felt this was his only sanctuary…

As he promised himself these things, Noah remembered all the things Cody did for him. He helped him open up, Cody became friends with him, and he even taught Noah to make friends with other people, mainly Izzy, Ezekiel, and Eva… And his heart felt lighter with these thoughts… Only for it to shatter again, as he remembered what he had to do to make sure that those people remained safe from Reed's harm… As the thought of never being allowed to see any of them again crossed Noah's mind…

…he couldn't help but cry into his pillow…


	8. How He Confessed

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Total Drama Island! But I will admit that Reed is absolutely made up.

* * *

It's been six days since Cody had been kicked off the island, and the bandages were finally off. His body was still a little fragile, but he was still up on his feet! Things were all good! He was at this great resort that will tend to his every need, there was good food, and CLEAN WATER TO SWIM IN!! Really, what can a guy ask for with all this?

…Maybe for his best friend to talk to him…?

He sighed as he waded around in the huge pool that the Playa Des Losers had, surrounding the refreshment bar. Noah hadn't been seen for days since Cody arrived to the island. The only time Cody had seen him was when he first arrived just as he was going into the elevator, and the thought made Cody worry a lot more… He knew he liked Noah, but somehow, he was beginning to think that Noah was still mad at him about something. Not that he knew what it was…

He wasn't the only one who noticed, though. Even Ezekiel and Katie, who weren't even on the same team as Noah had asked if he'd seen the dark skinned teenager, to which he replied with a shaking head. He was definitely beginning to worry. Noah was one to like being by himself, but he never remembered Noah staying in his room the entire time… He didn't even come out to EAT! One of the workers, to which he believed his name was Reed, had brought the food up to his room for him, telling Cody that he should stay with the others.

Of course, in a way, it bugged him a little that he was just letting some older blonde teenager bring food up to NOAH'S room (Which he had NO idea as to where it was). It kinda reminded him of his time at the island when he had that crush on Gwen and Trent came into the picture... The main question on Cody's mind really was… What could Noah have been doing in there that could keep him preoccupied enough to not welcome Cody to Playa Des Losers, or even visit him in his room while he healed from his traumatizing encounter with the bear?

He noticed that Izzy and Eva walked over to him. Izzy… and EVA!? Something HAD to be up if THEY were WALKING to him TOGETHER!! He watched as Izzy swam to him whilst Eva just stayed by the water's edge, staring at him.

"Hey, Cody! Could we talk with you for a second?" asked Izzy, motioning for him to follow her.

"_**He doesn't have a **__**CHOICE**_**!** He's coming over here or I'm **DRAGGING **him over here!!" shouted Eva, who looked utterly FURIOUS.

Apparently, he had no choice, so with fear of Eva's wrath, he followed Izzy and swam towards Eva, who sat cross-legged by the edge of the pool. He looked up at the two, who looked at each other oddly.

"Cody… Eva and I were talking, and we're kinda thinking something's up, here" said Izzy with her chipper voice, yet, Cody could tell that there was a tinge of concern in her voice. Eva looked the same.

"Your boyfriend hasn't left his room since the day you got here, and the tape for that day on the security camera is missing, so we can't see what's up" said Eva. Cody looked at her and blushed red.

"W-What!? B-Boyfriend!? Um, um…!" started Cody, startled at the accusation, and Izzy giggled while Eva rolled her eyes at the boy's embarrassment.

"Codster, chillax! We were just wondering if you'd do us a favor and check on him!" said Izzy.

Cody's eyes fell. The only problem with this was whether or not Noah actually going to talk to him? He didn't know, and he didn't know if Noah would even listen or believe that Cody actually liked him back… Noah had been distant from everyone… Including him. It hurt, but he couldn't help but wonder… Izzy and Eva looked at him.

"Please, Cody? We've, like, tried a million times, but he won't answer us OR even open his door!" she said, throwing her arms up into the air for emphasis.

"Yeah, and the producers won't allow me to break it down…" said Eva, who huffed in anger.

There were so many questions running through Cody's head right now. Like why THESE two came to HIM to ask about NOAH, who he didn't even know they TALKED to! How much had he missed since Noah left the island? Must've been a lot… He couldn't believe how CLOSE Noah must've become with these two for them to worry about him… At the thought of talking to Noah, he sighed. He didn't know if he could face Noah without telling him his feelings… Which he wasn't sure Noah would return anymore…

"I… I don't know, guys… I don't even know where his room is, OR if he'll be willing to talk to ME, either…" said Cody, unsure. He wasn't really into Noah's behavior, but wasn't sure that he'd be the one to fix it. Izzy and Eva looked at each other and laughed.

"Please, Cody! That guy is head over HEELS for you! He'd definitely listen to you! If he doesn't listen to you, I, like, HIGHLY doubt he'll listen to anyone else here!" she said, and Eva nodded. "Like, oh my god, this reminds me of a time when I-" Eva covered her mouth. Cody stared at them…

"… I have to think about it…" said Cody, swimming away, leaving Izzy and Eva with disappointed looks.

They look at each other, and sighed. This was definitely going to be harder than they thought…

* * *

Noah had been watching the entire scene from his balcony, without any of them noticing. At the sight of both Izzy AND Eva going to see Cody, his eyes widened in worry that they actually thought something was up with him. Luckily, whatever they told Cody to do must have failed, as he watched Cody swim away from them. The look on Cody's face had crushed Noah's heart. He didn't like making the other frown for anything, but yet… He sighed.

Reed would be coming up with his food soon.

And Noah had to wait for the boy to go into the elevator before going outside, or the blonde boy would grow furious at the sight of him and start another beating frenzy, which Noah had the bruises on his arms and sides to prove it. Luckily, his timing was right as he had slowly creaked the door open to find a bowl of cereal waiting outside for him on a tray.

He had to admit, with all that could've happened, he was pretty lucky. Reed could've completely forgotten him and left him in his room to die, but I guess he didn't want to have to explain to Chris his _permanent _absence. He walked back into his room, which was still messy, as he was in too much pain lately to clean it. As he walked into the bathroom, he noticed that he'd grown awfully pale. His skin hadn't been as dark as it been before, but then again, that's what he gets when he stays shut up in his room for a few days.

Looking at himself, he felt like shoving a knife into his skull already… He'd read all his books, and the videogames were out since he'd already beaten them… AGAIN… Life was absolute hell for him right now, which he thought wasn't possible since he left Camp Wawanakwa… He lost his friends, someone threatened his life and his crush's, and he's left out on all of the good things they were exploited to at this resort. He was just lucky that the security cameras weren't in any of the rooms, as it was a part of the privacy thing included in their contract.

After finishing his cereal, he threw the bowl aside and laid his frail figure back down on his bed. He had MAJOR bruises on his sides, his face was swollen, but the swelling seemed to be decreasing with all the time he's had to himself, and his eye was black from when Reed had first brought him food and he opened the door too early. He sighed as he laid down… At least when his brother had beaten him up, it was only a one-time thing. Reed seemed to make it a habit…

He so desperately wanted to die right now…

* * *

Cody sat by the refreshment stand, thinking a LOT about things. Noah wasn't going to talk to him that easily… If he was going to do this, he had to do it carefully. Picking his words out cautiously. Noah was one to take things offensively, and Cody did have a knack for saying the wrong things… He sighed again. Izzy and Eva were really worried about the guy, even if Eva didn't show it often.

Looking at the sky, as if asking the heavens what he should do, he noticed that Katie had still been sad and sitting a couple of seats away from him. Thinking something should be done, he went over to her.

"Something up, Katie?" he asked, taking the seat next to her.

She sighed. "No, I just… I'm starting to think that maybe Sadie might want to be near me…"

This shocked Cody to the highest level possible.

"What? How can you say that? I heard you two were shouting 'I miss you(s)' to each other as you left. I thought you guys were BFFFL's or whatever it was" he said, patting her on the back. She sighed again.

"I thought so, too… But I keep remembering that fight we had in the forest, and I think she may have meant everything she told me…"

"You guys apologized afterwards, didn't you?" he asked. She looked at him.

"But you and Noah haven't made up, yet… You guys were almost as close as me and Sadie were, and you guys are still not talking to each other…" she said, and his face fell.

"You know, you're right… But, in truth, it's just because I don't know what to say to him, yet… We're in the same situation, you and I. We both think the other hates us" he paused, getting her attention. "But you guys apologized to each other, which I haven't done with Noah, yet…"

She looked at him with a sad and worried expression.

"But… deep down, I really do want to be friends again, and I know you do with Sadie, too…"As he was thinking of his next words, he realized something. Everything he'd been thinking about… Wanting to be Noah's friend again, and maybe more… It wasn't going to happen unless…

"…But you'll never know unless something is done…" he paused, a smile coming to his face. He knew what he needed to do now. "If one of you doesn't talk… Nothing will change… She's not here for you to talk with her, yet, but I know she wants to be friends with you just as much as you do with her, Katie. I know it."

There was confidence in his voice. He wasn't just talking about Katie and Sadie anymore. He was also talking about him and Noah, and knew that to get Noah back, they had to talk, and talking was exactly what they were going to do. Sure, Cody was a little hesitant because he didn't know what Noah could be so mad about with him, but he was going to fix it. He wanted to be with Noah again, and if anyone was going to be the bigger man…

…It was going to be him.

"Wow… Thank you SO MUCH, Cody!" said Katie, hugging him tightly. "I feel so inspired now! I'll definitely talk to Sadie once she wins! Thank you!"

As she jumped into the pool and swam off, Cody looked at the big white building in front of him and knew what he had to do. He jumped into the pool as well, swimming towards his goal. Once getting out, he saw that Izzy and Eva were walking out of the building. They noticed him and the new determined look in his eye and looked hopeful.

"Girls, I need to ask a question." they smiled. "Where's Noah's room?"

* * *

As Noah's eyes were fluttering open from his nap, he realized that it was now 4:39 P.M… He yawned, and sat up, wincing at his sides once again. It's not that the bruises were as dark as they were the day after he got them, but it was still noticeable… He couldn't help but cautiously get off his bed and look outside to see the sun still in the sky.

He was really growing tired of this room. And felt he could at least take a small walk outside in the hallway for pete's sake. After all, Reed's deal was that he don't bother the other losers and he was in the clear. As he stood in front of the door, he paused. Cody's life was still at stake here… He couldn't just do what he wanted… No matter how desperately it called to him…

Yet, once his arm had started for the doorknob, he couldn't stop it. He turned the knob and slowly opened the door to look outside. No one had been around… And thankfully, Reed had dropped off his lunch already. As he bent down to reach for his food he suddenly heard something horrifying. The elevator doors were opening, and the person who came out of it…

…was Cody…

Forgetting about the food, Noah quickly shut the door and pushed his back against it. A little too hard, though, as it caught Cody's attention. He heard the other's footsteps come straight for his door, and Cody knocked. Lightly, as if hesitant, but tried again with certainty. He spoke.

"Noah? … Noah, I know you're in there, I just saw you!" he shouted from the other side.

Noah mentally slapped himself. Damn, so Cody had seen him… What was he gonna do, now? Just stay silent? It seemed like a good plan. Cody could assume he committed suicide and be over with it… Wow, the lack of freedom must've been getting to him. He was thinking like an IDIOT.

* * *

"Noah…" Cody started, pausing… "Um… Can you open up, please?"

Cody wanted to hit himself? Please? That sounded SO pathetic! There was NO way Noah was going to come out of his room with a wimpy voice like his… He sighed, getting back to the reason why he was here. Noah wasn't going to open his door, so he was forced to listen, as his room was on the top floor, Noah had nowhere to go. He cleared his throat.

"Noah… I'm sorry…" he said, bending his head down.

* * *

Noah's eyes widened as he heard Cody's last words… He was sorry? What was he sorry for…? Everything that had happened since they first met was Noah's fault. Why was he sorry? He shouldn't have been sorry. Noah was the one to blame. He was the one that was bringing Cody down…

"I'm sorry for the thing that happened on the island, Noah… Our fight… Heh, I'm used to pranks like that, so… It was no big deal…" He heard Cody say.

Noah wanted to die at every word Cody was telling him. Why was he SORRY!? Everything that happened… was NOAH'S fault… HE fell for Heather's trick… HE was the one that was gay… and HE was the one that could end up tainting Cody…

"… You know, ever since you left the island, I've been thinking of nothing but you, dude…" he said. "I know this sounds kinda weird coming from me, but… I really missed you…"

Noah's heart was breaking every second Cody had been outside. Just hearing his voice and the regret that was in it… Noah wished he'd just go away and let him feel terrible. But he wouldn't, and Noah knew it. He heard Cody take a deep breath.

"I… I read your journal" he said. Noah's eyes widened. His journal… HE LEFT IT AT THE ISLAND!!! "I read something interesting… So, you're gay, huh?"

Here it comes. The rejection Noah's been waiting for since he started liking Cody. He knew Cody would be better off without him…

"I don't mind" he heard Cody say…

No. No, no, no… Those were the words that ran through Noah's mind at the very moment. Yet, he had a feeling in his chest that tightened at the mystery of what Cody was trying to say to him right now… However, all he knew was that Cody didn't mind him being gay. This bothered Noah. This meant Cody would try to be Noah's friend. Noah didn't want it… Not only would it hurt Noah that they'd only stay friends if he DID talk to Cody right now…

…Reed would hurt the both of them…

"In fact, I'm not bothered by it at all"

Stop saying this, Cody… Noah wanted him to just stop and leave. It was only making things harder for him as he slid down against the door and brought his knees up to his chest (Which did hurt, but was thinking too much to notice).

"Actually… Noah, the little time we've had together was… the best time I've ever had in my life! Talking about videogames… that chat in the hot tub… It was pretty fun, and being around you is fun…"He paused again, and Noah's eyes were watering up again. He wanted Cody to stop reminding him. To stop telling him these things that have changed his life completely… He just wanted it all to stop…

"I was actually a little… interested…"

No. No. NO! This wasn't happening. Noah couldn't do this. He couldn't let this happen! He couldn't let Cody's life be ruined because of his selfishness. Because he wasn't careful enough…

"That day you left… I stopped you for a minute, and I just… couldn't say anything. I wanted to tell you something at the time, Noah, but I just didn't know what it was…"

Noah pleaded that it wasn't what he thought it was, yet, couldn't help but plead that it really WAS what he thought it was. Confusing, but yet, Noah felt he knew the next words coming out of Cody's mouth were…

"I do, now, though…"

No…

"Noah… I…"

No!…

"… I like you… As more than just a friend"

Noah couldn't stop the tears from falling. His first and once only friend was confessing to him, which he wanted so badly before to happen. Why was it that when he wished it wouldn't happen was when it actually did…? The tears expressed his anguish at the thought of wanting so badly to just open the door and run into his arms. But he knew he couldn't… Silence had been floating over them for what seemed like an eternity before Cody had spoken again…

"Noah… Open the door…"

More tears flooded down Noah's face. He couldn't do this. He couldn't put Cody at risk. It wasn't right. No matter how hurt he felt right now, or how quickly he could just run to Cody, he knew he couldn't…

"Noah, please… Open the door…"The more he pleaded, the more his voice began to crack, and Noah knew that pretty soon, Cody would be crying just as much as he was right now…

"I know we haven't talked in a while…" he sniffed. "But… I'd like to try again!… If you'd only come out here and talk to me!"

Noah sat there, face buried in his hands holding back sobs. He wanted so badly to get away from the door and cover his head with his pillow, but hearing Cody's voice again gave him so much joy… And yet, so much pain at the same time…

"I really like you, Noah, and I … I know you like me, too! Why are you hiding from me like this?!"

Noah tightened his position into the form of a ball. He didn't know how much more of Cody's sobbing he could take before literally breaking into pieces. This was for his own good. This was for Cody… All of it was for Cody… He heard a thump on the floor, which he assumed was just Cody falling to his knees.

"Just… Just say something!… Please Noah… Just something…"

He couldn't. If Noah said anything, he would've broken down and spilled everything. They'd both be in danger. Even if Reed wasn't around, he knew there would've been more people to hurt them and judge them. He'd already let this happen once, by his own family. He couldn't let Cody go through it, too…

He just sat there, knowing the one he wanted to be with desperately was on the ground, crying his eyes out, and completely heart-broken, just like Reed said he'd be… And Noah knew…

It was over.

* * *

Knowing that he wasn't going to get an answer, Cody stood slowly from the floor, staring at the door with empty eyes. He walked lifelessly to the elevator and went to the floor below it, where his room had been… Walking out, he looked around and found his room, opening the door and walking in. He headed straight for his bed, and once he did, he collapsed onto it, and screamed into his pillow, crying and sobbing as he wished…

It was over… He had confessed too late… Noah wasn't going to listen to him, anymore, and he knew that he'd never be the Noah that he knew from the island anymore… Cody was too late… Too late to realize his feelings and too late to express them… Noah liked him the entire time, and by leaving the island, he knew that Noah was trying to give up… Cody knew that had he confessed right before he left, they'd be together right now. But that wasn't the case. Noah had to have taken it as rejection… Cody knew…

…Noah was broken… He couldn't be fixed…

It was over… _For both of them…_


	9. How The Nightmare Ended

Disclaimer: Don't own Total Drama Island. Never will. Reed is completely made up, though.

* * *

Izzy, a crazy red-head on the most popular TV show ever, Total Drama Island, had wandered around aimlessly on the clean grounds of Playa Des Losers. She had no idea if anything had happened between the two since she asked Cody to go check up on the one who wouldn't leave his room, and although she didn't show it that well…

…Izzy was worried…

She hadn't seen neither Noah nor Cody since… No one else seemed to have, either, and Eva, the know-it-all's next door neighbor, hadn't even seen him leave his room. He'd seem to have always requested his food be brought up to his room. Cody, her next door neighbor, hadn't been doing so well either. She had tried to bring him out of his room to talk with her, but the boy refused to answer, and locked his door just as the other had done before him.

This had been going too far. She may not have known what had happened, but she was going to find out. Whether the two liked it or not, they were going to be together, and she would make sure of it.

Eva looked around. The gym was a really quiet place, especially when no one used it. She figured that at least the wanna-be jock, Tyler would try to lift weights or something, but he seemed just fine with the pool instead. She scoffed. Some jock he was.

She heard someone walking up behind her. From the way things were right now, she assumed it was Izzy, considering she was the only person that would bother approaching the girl, other than Noah, that is. However, she knew better, since the boy hadn't stepped out of his room. She turned around to face the psychotic girl in front of her.

"Anything?" Eva asked, and Izzy shook her head in response.

"Izzy knocked on Cody's door and called out to him, but he wouldn't answer! Izzy DEFINITELY thinks something's up…" she said, crossing her arms…

"Well, then it's time we got up close and personal…!" said Eva, punching her fist into her hand.

Suddenly, they heard someone walk into the gym. Looking at the doorway, they realize that it was Ezekiel, who looked like he'd been thinking about something. Normally, Eva would've jumped the guy due to that accident the other day, but those anger-management classes she was offered when she lost had helped some out… Looking at each other, the two girls stared back at him as he brought something to their attention.

"Um… Any of you happen to know why there's drops of blood on the security room floor, eh?" The two looked at each other with wide eyes.

_Blood…?_

"I figured one of you two had something to do with it, eh…" he said, watching as the other two ran to the security room and examined the tiny drops… They had been dry, but something about them was odd… If they had been there for a long time, the color would've faded to black by now. Yet, the color still looked there, and Izzy touched the hardened liquid.

It had to be recent. Izzy could tell that much. Not too recent, but recent enough. Oddly enough, Izzy was just able to tell these kinds of things. Just part of her weird factors. She looked at the two.

"Izzy says something stinks…" she said, and the other two nodded.

"Shouldn't we tell someone?" asked Ezekiel. They ignored him.

"Something happened here, alright, but why didn't we notice it before?" asked Eva.

"It must've been something bad. Look, there's some really thin drops on the wall over here, too!" said Izzy. The other two looked to see, and Izzy was true to her word. There were a couple of almost unnoticeable drops on the walls in front of them.

"You know, eh… I'm starting to think there may be more to Noah's disappearance than we thought…" noted Ezekiel, which caught Izzy and Eva's attention immediately.

"What're you talking about? How can this be related to Noah?" barked Eva, looking like she could beat up Ezekiel any moment. He flinched.

"W-Well, um… I didn't want to tell anyone this, but… The day that the gopher boy, Cody-whatever-his name is showed up… I'd been hiding from Eva the entire day in one of the huge indoor plants close to the benches near the elevator, and I think I saw Noah walking into the elevator, and he didn't look so well…" he started, and Eva grabbed his collar and lifted him off the ground.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY THIS **EARLIER**!?!" shouted Eva, and Izzy watched them.

"I-I didn't know what to say! Or who to tell, eh! H-He just looked sick or something! He was holding his sides and everything!" said Ezekiel, panicking and not wanting another beating from Eva.

"Holding his sides?" Izzy asked.

"Y-Yeah, eh! He even leaned against the wall for support, man! I'm serious!" he shouted.

"Where did he come from?" asked Izzy. Something was definitely off.

"I-I couldn't see! The plants were blocking the way, eh!" he said, and Eva dropped him to the ground. She sighed heavily, rubbing her temples.

"Could Noah be sick with, like, a terrible virus or something? Coughing up blood or something? Like, oh my gosh, that'd be, like, SO COOL! I wonder if he'll spread it to me! That'd be, like, SO TOTALLY-" started Izzy, but Eva covered her mouth again.

"FOCUS, here!! We now know definitely something's up with him, but the question is- WHAT ARE WE GOING TO _DO _ABOUT IT!?" she shouted. Izzy stopped to think.

"Well… I don't know! But for some reason, the elevator's broken, so first, let's go check up on Cody!" she said, dragging the other two with her up the fire escape stairs next to the elevator, closing the door behind her.

* * *

Reed was walking up the stairs to the top floor with a furious and deadly look on his face. The one he was going for, the boy he had been beating up, had broken their deal. He had interacted with the other boy, and he was going to make sure the other had iregretted/i it dearly… He had warned the boy countless times to not interact with any of the losers of workers here in Playa Des Losers. It wasn't that hard to follow! But the queer broke his word…

He turned around as he walked into the top floor hallway and locked the door behind him. There was only one person on this floor right now, and it was the one he was gunning for… He was alone with him, as he had closed the elevator, and with the fire exit to the stairs door locked, the little queer had nowhere to run…

He was done for…

* * *

Noah sat on his bed, staring at the wall, as he'd been doing for the past three days that he'd been stuck in his room. Looking in the mirror once again, he was glad to see that the bruises were starting to fade away… Yet, every time he looked at himself in the mirror, he felt like punching himself. How could he care about what he looked like when Cody was suffering…? He looked down at the floor. He was completely lifeless. There was nothing left for him anymore…

He didn't even notice that his door had opened, from someone using a key, and that the someone had been walking towards him, hands balled into fists…

* * *

"Cody! Cody, open this door right now!!" shouted Izzy, knocking madly on her neighbor's door.

Cody refused to even move from his bed. He'd had no idea how long it's been since he went outside, but he just didn't care anymore… He had tried to ignore the continuous pounding on his door, and the many threats that Eva was sending him from the other side of it. He sighed. He knew she couldn't really do anything. She wasn't allowed to break down doors.

"Cody, please, I don't know what happened between the two of you, but there's something wrong! You have to open your door and talk to us, PLEASE!" shouted Izzy.

Hearing her pleas, he couldn't help but get up from his bed and walk to the door effortlessly. Better to not ignore them the way Noah did him, right? He turned the knob and looked at the three who stood outside his door. They gasped. He must've looked _terrible_… Granted, he hadn't eaten for a day…

"Cody… We think something's wrong with Noah" Izzy said, and in bitterness, Cody tried to shut the door on them, but Eva's reflexes had caught the door before he could do so.

"Not so fast, dork! We think he might be severely sick or something" said Eva, holding the door.

Cody looked at them for a second, but shook his head. He tried, and he failed. There was no point to trying anymore if Noah had already given up. But knowing that Eva wasn't going to let him shut them out, he reluctantly just walked to his bed and collapsed into his pillow while they followed him in and took a seat.

"Cody… Ezekiel said that Noah may have been sick when you arrived here. He, like, saw Noah barely standing and going into the elevator"

This caught Cody's attention. He had seen Noah looking odd while heading into the elevator that day… Not that he knew what could've happened, but it was still no reason to just leave him standing outside his room trying to talk to him and letting everything spill out… The three weren't going to give up that easily, though.

"Look, we think he may be coughing up blood or something, eh. We found some small drops of it in the security room." said Ezekiel. He looked up at the three.

"Guys… It's nice to see what you're trying to do…" he started, startled at how lifeless his voice sounded. How broken it felt… "But Noah said everything to me when I tried to talk to him… I told him everything. How I felt… What I thought… _everything_"

They looked at him, Izzy and Ezekiel with sympathetic looks while Eva just stared at him blankly.

"… He said everything I needed to hear… By not saying anything at all..."

* * *

A punch had hit Noah in the gut, making him cough a little blood from his mouth as he hit the ground in the hallway floor. How could he have not seen this coming? He knew that the little interaction Cody had with him outside his room would get on Reed's nerves, even if he hadn't opened the door for Cody when he talked to him…

"I'm a very strict person about deals, _Queer_…" he said, stepping on Noah's side, causing the boy to yelp in pain, as the bruises had still been there. He yelped louder as Reed pushed his foot onto the painful area…

"Did you think I wouldn't notice if you tried to leave your hell-hole? Did you think I wouldn't have noticed that your little gay crush saw you trying to leave, and then had TALKED to you? **HUH!?**"

Reed removed his foot and kicked Noah again, and the pain in Noah's side was more intense than the last time, since his bruises were there, and the pain even brought some tears to his eyes. Reed had grabbed a handful of Noah's hair and pulled him to his knees, bringing out another yelp from Noah as he kneeled down to Noah's eye level.

"I'll admit it… The boy came to you, and he's already broken from your good judgment of not replying to him, so I'll leave him alone… Eventually, he most likely will become straight again, and forget _all about you_"

The words stung deeply into Noah's heart… But his heart fluttered with the thought of Reed leaving Cody safe…

"… But as for you…" he said, punching Noah in the cheek with his free hand.

"… I'm afraid your chances are up… For letting him see you in the first place" With this, Reed had held Noah's hair and stood to kick Noah's side again, and again and again. Noah wanted so badly to scream, but each kick had made all the air in his lungs leave him as he yelled in pain. Cody was safe… But for him, there was nothing for him… He was just as he'd been before…

Nothing.

The thing no one cared about or noticed. Noah's beating had continued until he eventually hit a hallway wall. He was trapped again. Even if he could get up, he didn't think he could run. No one could save him either… Not that anyone would…

He closed his eyes and let the pain continue…

* * *

"Look, there's GOT to be a way to get those two to talk! If Cody's not going to do it, there's no way we can get Noah to do it!" said Izzy.

"If that dork would just believe us, it'd be no problem!" shouted Eva, getting furious at Cody's stubbornness as they stood in the refreshment bar. Ezekiel just sat there and listened to them.

"Just try to think of something, guys! I'll go look at those bloodstains again! There's GOT to be something that points to Noah needing help!" said Izzy, swimming towards the building's entrance, and walking onto the tile floor with The pool water dripping off of her slim figure.

She couldn't put her finger on it, but there had definitely been something strange about Noah's behavior. The boy was rather odd in her point of view, but no guy would avoid his own crush this badly without a reason to. It bothered her greatly, and she was going to figure out what it was, whether or not it killed her. Well, it probably wouldn't, she'd gotten out of worse things before. As she walked into the security room, she could swear she heard something on one of the screens…

Grunting? Yelps? What was it? She looked around to see which screen it was coming from, and found that it was the one that recorded the happenings of the top floor…

…And her eyes widened in horror…

"**EVA!!!**" she shrieked, running out of the room.

Noah didn't know how much more he could take of this. His eyes were red from the tears. Reed showed no mercy as he put Noah through his own personal hell. The kicking and punching continued. Every attempt Noah made to scream was intervened with another hit to his face or gut, and the attacks seemed to continue. They wouldn't seem to end. Eventually, Reed had stopped for a moment when he figured that Noah wouldn't be able to scream…

Not that he was wrong, Noah couldn't speak at all. He could barely breathe properly with how many times he'd gotten hit. Reed lifted him off the ground at his collar again and threw him into the wall, bringing out a louder yell than before, as Noah had twisted his ankle with the impact. Noah felt his consciousness leaving him as he heard Reed say one last thing before approaching him again…

"Time to go to hell, _Fag_…"

Suddenly, there was a pounding heard, and then a loud SLAM! Someone had knocked down a door, which Noah knew would get them in trouble later. He heard a loud shrieking sound and Reed's yelp of surprise. He also heard someone else yelling and a loud thump as Reed seemed to have fallen to the floor. Someone was shaking him. He couldn't tell who until they spoke.

"Dude, wake up, eh!"

Ezekiel…? What was he doing here? Who was shrieking? What happened to Reed? Ezekiel shook him a little more, and his consciousness was returning to him again. His eyes fluttered a little more open, with a little pain in his left eye from it being a black eye and all… He noticed that the fire exit door had been on the ground and that Izzy had been standing near it, shouting something…

"…Don't let him get away, Eva! Get him! GET HIM!" she shouted. Looking back, she noticed that he was starting to come to… "Noah! NOAH! Are you alright? _NOAH!_"

"He needs some medical attention, eh!" said Ezekiel, and she nodded and went straight for the door to get someone. Ezekiel looked at Noah to make sure he was awake and sighed.

"You are one crazy dude…" he said.

Noah looked at him… What did he mean? He didn't do anything wrong…They're the ones that attacked a worker. He coughed a little, and ended up spitting out blood.

"Whoa, dude! Stay with me, eh! You're gonna be okay!" Ezekiel was shouting at him.

Somehow, Noah felt… at peace with someone worrying about him… He'd never felt this way in a long time… His eyes started to close again. He was too tired to attempt keeping awake. He felt glad that the pain was over, and had he not been in so much pain, he would've hugged Ezekiel for dear life, glad that Reed was finally away from him for a few moments at the very least… But he was too weak right now…

…He fell asleep…

* * *

A few hours later, Noah had woken up in a bed. A CLEAN bed, which indicated that he wasn't in his own room at this very moment. He looked around the room to see a couple of weights and stuff surrounding the room. He knew who's room he was in with that being in here… He was in Eva's room. Not that he knew why, but he figured he'd might as well try to find out.

He sat up a bit, doing so slowly so he wouldn't hurt himself. Speaking of hurting himself, he had looked at his arms and noticed that there were bandages wrapped around them. His leg had hurt really badly for some reason, and remembered that he twisted his ankle. Luckily, when he looked to his side, he noticed that there was a crutch waiting for him, and used it to get around the room.

Finding the door, Noah opened it and took a step outside to see Chris and the other three who found him outside his room door. Noah looked at them curiously as Chris took notice of him. They all turned around to notice the boy, and Eva walked over to him and put his other arm around her neck. She helped him over to his room. Chris had cleared his throat.

"I… I have absolutely no clue as to what to say, Noah… But if it helps, Reed has been fired and immediately sent outta here." said Chris, scratching his head. Noah looked at him, narrowing his eyes. There was more to this… He knew it… Instead, Izzy had continued.

"But the problem is, we can't actually sue the guy without your orientation becoming known to the rest of the world. Paparazzi are all OVER this show, and they'd surely notice and question the intentions of the attacker if it was let out that he was abusing a contestant…" she said.

Noah looked down… He knew it… Reed had basically been let off with a slap on the hand while Noah himself had been left with traumatizing memories and terrible injuries. Chris had cleared his throat again, grabbing their attention.

"However, as a plus side for you, we have given you the choice to return to the island to try again for the $100,000... The producers feel it's only fair with what you've been through this past week."

Noah also heard him mutter "And they didn't want anymore lawsuits than they got already" and looked at him. A chance to go back to the island…? Could it really be true…?

"We'll also allow you to bring someone else back with you of your choice. But it's up to you, dude… Who would you like to bring back to the island?" asked Chris, adding emphasis to that last question…

Noah looked at the ground. Should he really go back to the island? Not that he could in his condition… They'd probably wait until Noah's wounds have healed to let him make such a decision. He looked at the others, who gave him a happy, yet sad look, knowing that they wouldn't be picked. Ezekiel looked completely fine with it, however, which shocked him…

"Dude, pick whoever you'd like. I'll be fine with it, eh!" he said, giving him two thumbs up. "I mean, why would I leave this place? I'd rather be here than the island!"

Now that Noah thought about it… With Reed off the island, he should really go back to talk to Cody first… Explain himself. Yet, when he really thought about it, he'd rather talk to him here than at the island, where Heather could possibly get in the way again… But the thought of Cody when Reed came back into mind made him sick… No, he had to leave Cody alone… But still, he finally came to a decision after a few moments for an offer he was already going to refuse the moment it was given.

"Chris… As much as I like the offer, I'll have to refuse…" he said, and Chris looked surprised, but bummed.

"**BUT!**" This caught everyone's attention. Ezekiel looked at him and smiled. If Noah didn't know any better, he'd have thought that Ezekiel knew what he was going to do. Nah, he must've been going crazy.

"I'd like to send two people back in my place" he said with a smile.

"Really?" Chris asked, shocked, confused, and down right not expecting that. "Now, who would that be?"

Noah grinned, and he looked at Eva and Izzy and pointed.

"_Them_"

Izzy and Eva looked at each other shocked. Then they looked back at Noah, who smiled back at them.

"It's the least I can do, for what they've done for me…" he said.

In happiness, Izzy had hugged him tightly while Eva smiled and patted him gently on the back. Chris grinned, knowing that sending back those two would bring back some AWESOME ratings for the show, while Ezekiel gave them both a thumbs up.

"That's totally cool with me, dude! Nice choice! We'll have them sent back to the island… After a few more challenges" said Chris, making their happy faces drop back down to frowns.

"**WHAT!?**" shouted Eva, looking like she was going to end Chris's life.

"We'll have to work on why you're coming back and stuff. You know, for the plot. But I promise you, you two WILL return to the island, but you CAN'T let them know why we REALLY brought you back. This Noah thing has to remain secret. The fate of this show's ratings depends on it!" said Chris, putting his hands in front of himself in defense.

They looked at him crossly, but agreed. The three had looked at Noah as Eva directed him back to her room, since his had currently been getting cleaned up from Reed's troubles. As Noah laid back down on Eva's bed, he was swamped with 'thank you (s)' from both Eva and Izzy… Well, more from Izzy, as Eva was too embarrassed to say anything. He was glad to have great friends like them to stand up for him when he needed them…

* * *

Cody, who was still sitting in his room, had heard that Chris came back to the resort and was rather curious as to why that would be, considering how late it was, and that the next loser wouldn't be coming until the next day… Walking downstairs, since the elevator was still off for some odd reason, he noticed that there was a commotion going on with the floor above him. Looking up from his place on the stairs, he noticed that the door was open, and a lot of chattering was going on…

Walking upstairs, he saw that Chris had been standing in front of Noah's open room door, directing others to be cleaning. Cleaning? What were they doing cleaning Noah's room? With this thought, he walked over to Chris, who noticed him and waved.

"Hello, there, Cody! Whatcha doing?" he asked with a chipper voice.

"What's going on?" he asked, disregarding Chris' greeting.

"Well, one of the employees had gotten off on the wrong foot with Noah, and well, here's the result" said Chris, moving aside to let Cody into the room. Cody gasped. He read everything that was currently being painted over on the wall and looked around to see the room in a huge mess… He turned back to Chris.

"Who did this?! Where's Noah?!" he asked.

"Whoa, take a chill pill, my friend! Noah's in the room next door with Eva. Apparently, our youngest employee, Reed had a problem with the boy. Luckily, we were able to fire him and send him packing, but… Well, not before he could get enough beatings on Noah, though…" said Chris, scratching his head again.

Cody stared at him with shock. Also angered at this sudden information, but he knew there was something more important right now, and asked Chris if he could go see him… Of course, Chris said yes, not caring that Noah's privacy was at stake here… Cody immediately walked next door…

Sure, Cody had been mad at Noah for ignoring him and his pleas to talk to him… But now he felt absolutely horrible… Noah had been abused… why? Just because he was gay??? What was so bad about it, anyway!? As he walked into Eva's doorway, he noticed that Ezekiel, Eva, and Izzy were with Noah. He hadn't looked at them, but had heard their voices, and stayed around the corner to listen to their conversation…

* * *

Noah still had a big problem in his hands, and as he lay there in Eva's bed staring at the ceiling, the other three took notice of this… Izzy had been the first to speak up.

"Noah…? What's wrong?" asked Izzy.

"Yeah, Dude! You can go talk to Cody now! And make up or whatever" said Ezekiel. Noah sighed as he sat up, ignoring the pain in his back.

"No… I can't… Cody would never take me back, now…" he said.

"Um, hel-LO!? You just went through hell with a gay-basher to keep the dork safe from harm, and you're just going to leave him ALONE!?" Eva yelled at him, Izzy having to calm her down a bit. Noah shook his head. They didn't understand.

"It's my fault… You didn't hear him the day he came to my door…" he paused, looking at his hands again. "I shouldn't have let Reed get in the way… I shouldn't have just let Cody cry like that…"Tears were starting to sting his eyes again, especially his black one and he bent his head down. His hands were balled into fists… He shook, and no matter how painful his sides and back were from the shaking, he couldn't stop.

"I… I wanted so desperately to make him stop crying… And tell him my feelings… But I couldn't, because I was selfish…" he said, making the other three stare at him. "R-Reed… should never have been a problem… I shouldn't have let him cry… I shouldn't have ignored him like that…"

"But he threatened you, Noah… Cody would understand, wouldn't he?" Izzy asked, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"That's exactly why I can't do it!" he said. "He's too nice! He'd go through hell just to keep someone alive! And I'm only bringing him down, Izzy! …"

He sobbed into his right hand. "He shouldn't have to feel ignored… He should never have been put in danger in the first place… If I had just kept my distance from the beginning, NONE of this would have ever happened!… No one would be hurt… Especially him…"

Cody's eyes started to sting. Noah thought he was a good person… Too good… Noah had ignored Cody that day for bCody's/b safety… How could Cody have been so stupid…? To think that Noah was avoiding him out of selfishness? How could he think that was of someone as good as Noah was? How could Noah think that he was no better than Cody?Noah had taken BEATINGS just so Cody wouldn't get hurt… Noah shut himself in his room, to protect everyone… Including Cody…

He felt so stupid…

"I… I don't deserve him…" he heard Noah sob into his hands. That was it. Cody could take much more of this…

* * *

"That's not true!"

Everyone in the room had looked at the new voice, which, to Noah's horror, belonged to Cody. The boy had a shocked expression and gasped when he looked at Noah… Yeah, well, he DID look pretty crappy right now. Not being able to face him, Noah turned away. Seeing that this was going to be a little intense, Izzy had motioned for the other two to follow her outside. They obliged.

Noah watched them leave with pleading looks that they wouldn't leave him here alone with Cody to talk to. He wouldn't be able to. Not by himself… He looked at Cody, who stared at him with red, teary eyes. Noah knew… That the final challenge for him was here…He and Cody needed to talk…

And whether or not Noah was going to like the results was unknown…


	10. How They Lived Happily Ever After

Disclaimer: Don't own it, for the last time in this story! NO OWNAGE OF TOTAL DRAMA ISLAND!!

* * *

Noah sighed as he looked at the boy in front of him and turned his face away, wishing that he could be anywhere but where the boy could try to convince him of something he was already sure of… Cody stared at him for a moment, and Noah grew uncomfortable from the awkward silence hovering over them. He coughed, and checked to see that a little blood was still coming out of his mouth, and looked at Cody, who's eyes widened, and walked over to him and sat on the bed next to Noah.

"Noah…" started Cody, grabbing his hand, which Noah drew back in response.

How could Noah even look at him anymore? He was ashamed with himself. He let his secret get out, and placed Cody in danger. Shouldn't Cody be running away from him, disgusted? He needed to leave, and looked at his crutch, which he attempted to grab, but Cody had caught his hand before he could do so. Noah looked at him in surprise, and wished he didn't when he saw the furious look in his eye.

"Noah. Stop running away from me..." he said, sternly, catching Noah off guard.

"Cody…" he started, but Cody wouldn't let him continue.

"Noah, why didn't you _tell_ me about Reed…?" he asked, looking down at the bed sheets. Noah stared at the ground.

"… There was nothing to say" he said, but Cody wasn't letting him off that easily.

"Nothing to _say_!?" he shouted, making Noah flinch. "How about the fact that you were getting beaten to death by an **employee**!? How about the fact that you were forced to hide in your room, not ever being allowed to come out because he _threatened_ to **kill** you!? Not even for **FOOD**!?"

Noah looked back at the ground. After all that's happened to him, he seemed to be immune to people yelling at him. Cody was mad, and he knew that, and in some way, Noah could understand that. What Noah couldn't understand was why he was here with him, even bothering to talk to him… Noah shook his head.

"I chose to let it happen, Cody. Just drop it" said Noah.

"No. I won't! If you had done it to protect yourself, I could understand a LITTLE, but you were protecting _me_, too! If anything, I seemed to be the **only** thing you were protecting!"

Noah looked at him to see that he was going to start sobbing again. He couldn't help but reach his arms out and wrap them around Cody's neck, embracing him tightly. Cody had been confused, but being in Noah's arms made him feel warm, and he returned the hug. Cody seemed to hold on tighter, though, thinking that had he let Noah go, he'd never get him back. He did what he should've done when Noah was voted off. Hold on and never let go.

However, remembering what the consequences were for this, he let go and pushed Cody's chest, backing away, not caring how cold he felt when scooting away from him. Cody looked at him confused, watching Noah as he placed his hand on his temple. Noah couldn't do this. He refused to. He already had it set in his mind that Cody was too good for him, and that's how it was going to stay. No matter how much it hurt.

"Cody… You need to go…" he said.

"…No…"

"Cody, you have to go" he said, firmly.

"I said no, and you can't make me" said Cody, just as sternly. Noah glared at him, annoyed at his ignorance. "You just don't seem to get it, do you, Noah?!"

"Get what?" he spat. "That I'm a disgusting creature of nature? That people hate what I am? Cody, it's not a life that many people want! Do I _like_ being told that I'm a disease? No, but I can't help it, either! This is what I am, and what you're not!"

"How would you know that, huh, Noah!?" Cody shouted back.

"Because you liked _GWEN_!!" he shouted, turning away. Cody stared at him. "You liked Gwen before me… Everyone saw it… You were straight before you met me! I've tainted you, Cody, I've turned you into something **horrible**!"

"Just _WHAT_ is so _horrible_ about liking guys!?" shouted Cody. Noah's eyes were getting stained with tears once again as he replied.

"**LOOK** at me, Cody!! Is **THIS** what you want to _live_ through for the rest of your _**LIFE**_!?" he screamed.

The tears rolled down his cheeks like waterfalls, and he couldn't contain his sobbing. He choked on some of his tears, spitting out more blood, and Cody embraced him around his neck to calm him down. It seemed to work, as Noah had gripped onto Cody's shirt and cried into his chest. Cody rubbed his back to ease him.

"Whether or not I live through something like this is _my_ choice, Noah… Mine's only…" said Cody, still rubbing Noah's back. "_Please let me make it myself…_"

"It's… not safe…" said Noah, his voice muffled by Cody's shirt.

"You think signing up for this show was safe, either? No way! But I still did it!" said Cody.

Noah looked up at Cody to see his eyes sparkling with sincerity. Noah looked down again. Could he really do this? Let Cody put himself in danger like this…?

"Noah…" he looked at him. "You're only problem is whether or not you can protect me if anything happens… But I don't need protecting. If anything, I might have to protect _you_ from doing crazy things like this!" said Cody, rubbing Noah's bruised cheek with his thumb to move the tears flowing down them, careful not to press too hard as to hurt Noah.

"It's not something to be proud of…" said Noah. Cody's eyes narrowed.

"Did Reed tell you that, Noah? Cuz if he did, then get that thought out of your head right now! I'm proud of it! I'm proud to like guys! I'll only ever like one guy, Noah…"

Noah was going to cry again.

"…And it's _you_…"

And he did. Cody held onto him tighter, as did Noah as he cried into Cody's shirt again.

"You've already taken risks because you really care about me…" said Cody, his hand resting on top Noah's head. "… Now let me take some, too, because I really care about you…"

"… You're getting really good at those pick-up lines…" Noah muttered, and Cody laughed.

"Well, as long as you like them, hun!" he said, rubbing his cheek softly against Noah's. Noah's face dropped.

"Okay, you've seriously been hanging around Leshawna too much" Noah pointed out.

"Well, I guess so, but then again, you've been hanging around some interesting people, too! Like, come on! _IZZY _and _EVA_? That's seriously not what I was-"

"Are you going to kiss me or not!" said Noah, getting impatient, and Cody obliged, placing his lips on Noah's.

For a moment, Noah had been swimming. Never before had something felt so good to him. That dream he had back on the island, which caused him to wake up kissing Cody's ear, was NOTHING compared to how he was feeling now. However, once Cody stuck his tongue into his mouth, Noah thought he must have died and went to heaven. He just couldn't get enough of Cody's tongue wrestling with his own.

After a few minutes, they had to let each other go. The lack of air was getting them dizzy. Suddenly, they heard a voice and turned towards the door to see…

…Izzy with a video camera…?

"Oops!… Um, d-don't worry! My eyes only thing! Heh heh… LATER!" she shouted, running off into the hallway.

"Dang it, IZZY!!" shouted Noah, trying to get his crutch, but Cody grabbed his hand again.

Noah looked at him, and Cody had a smile on his face, which Noah returned. Cody grabbed his chin gently and leaned over for another kiss, sending them both back to heaven.

* * *

After they had finally stopped making out with each other, Noah and Cody had agreed that the relationship would stay hidden from the world as a safety precaution that no one like Reed would show up to bother them anymore. It bothered Noah that Cody was forced to hide their relationship, but Cody had proven to him that he didn't mind one bit (With a LOT of kisses to coax Noah, who seemed to get drunk off of Cody's kisses, even if it was a peck on the lips).

Right now, Cody had been turning pink from the sun being on him for so long, and Noah knew he was getting sun-burnt, but Cody explained that he was attempting to get a tan to impress the 'ladies', which otherwise, meant Noah. Noah shook his head at his new boyfriend's stupidity, but smiled at the thought of the attempt.

The camera crew and Chris had shown up to Playa Des Losers after a lot of weeks passing by. Eva and Izzy did return to the island, but then the anger-management classes Eva had gotten immediately left her mind once she stepped foot on the island and her temper got her voted off again. Noah had to sigh at that. Izzy, however, lasted a little longer than most of them, and seemed fine with getting voted off. Even though they had both been kicked off again, they couldn't help but feel grateful that Noah gave them the chance to return and try again.

As for Noah himself, he went back to his boring personality of always reading and disregarding whatever else happens as to not draw suspicion. He had taken off his shirt, as his bruises and injuries had long gone away before Geoff had arrived to the island. He had made up with a couple of the team members, and all in all, things were just plain good for all of them.

Why were Chris and the camera crew at Playa Des Losers? They had announced that the losers were going to be the ones choosing the next person to join them, and the camera crew had been going around recording everyone and their thoughts about the contestants who were still competing. One had asked Noah a very interesting question, however…

"Did I get anything out of this experience…?"

He had smiled on the inside about his answer.

"No. It was completely, uneventful" from the corner of his eye, he could see that Cody smiled at him. Then Izzy had to join in…

"He kissed a guy!" she said, splashing out of the water, and he turned to her in shock.

Yeah, she'd known about he and Cody's little make-out session in Eva's room, but she didn't have to tell the whole WORLD about it! (Even though it wasn't the kiss she was talking about). He denied it.

"Yes you did!"

"Didn't!"

"Diiiiid!" she said, smiling in a teasing way.

"Did. NOT!" said Noah, his voice getting raspier.

"_Did, did, did, did, did, did, DID, DID, DID, DID, D-DID, d-d-d-d-did_!" she sang, mockingly.

Seriously, Noah was grateful to Izzy for how she helped him out and stuff, and he really did like her as a great friend… But there were times when he really did think she was a psycho like everyone said… And found her a bit annoying, but hey, what're friends for…? Trent had cleared his throat.

"Um, I can break this tie… He totally did" said Trent.

Noah looked at him with wide eyes. How did TRENT know about the kiss in Eva's room!? (Because it wasn't the one they were talking about! XD) He stared at the cameramen.

"I have no comment" he said, crossing his arms and looking away from the cameramen.

* * *

"So, who're you gonna cheer for?" Cody asked as they walked into the boat that would take them back to Camp Wawanakwa. Noah thought about it for a sec.

"Owen" he said. Cody frowned.

"You're still jealous of Gwen, huh?"

"It's not jealousy!" he said, crossing his arms and looking away, blushing. Cody laughed and gave him a peck on the cheek while no one was looking. Noah stared at him.

"Aw, come on! No one was looking! Chill out, dude!" he said, grinning. Eventually, Noah couldn't help but grin back, and peck Cody quickly on the lips, to which he replied with a giggle.

"It's okay. It'll get people's suspicions off of us if we support different people, right?" Cody asked, and Noah felt a little guilt in the whole hiding relationship. Cody saw this, and elbowed Noah in the arm for encouragement, to which Noah rolled his eyes at. Yet, Cody could see that he was fighting to keep the smile off his face.

* * *

"Hey, wanna be teammates for the million dollars?" Noah asked, making sure no one was looking. However, before Cody could respond, they both heard Owen screaming from a distance.

"Hey, Cody! Join our team! Be part of our man's only tribe!" he shouted, and Cody was about to refuse until they heard Izzy and Eva calling from a distance.

"Hey, Noah! Be on our team! It'll, like, be ultra cool for the three of us to be on a team, don'cha think!?" she said, grabbing Noah's hands. He looked at Cody for a moment, but knew that Eva and Izzy were only trying to help throw off any suspicion as the good friends they were.

"It's okay. Whichever one of our groups wins, we'll split our share with each other, kay?" said Cody, heading off in the direction that Owen, Tyler, and DJ were in.

"Yeah. But whoever wins it pays the first date" said Noah, smirking at him while Cody winked at him.

* * *

Cody sighed. "Well, that was totally messed up"

"No kidding" replied Noah, as they sat in the boat that was taking them to their new location.

"I can't believe neither of us have a chance to win any money, now" said Cody.

"Yeah, well, at least we don't have to go through anymore stupid challenges. We can just watch from the sidelines and laugh at them, right?" Noah smirked.

"Your sick humor is so creepy… Yet, hot" said Cody, smirking at him again. Noah rolled his eyes.

"You know, whenever you pretend to be cool, I have to force myself not to laugh at you" he said, making Cody scowl at him, but Cody ended up wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him closer.

"You're just mad cuz I can be a better seme than you!" he said, grinning evilly. Noah smirked.

"What-ever! I am ALWAYS going to be the better seme!" said Noah.

"Wanna bet on that?"

"I don't gamble"

"Well, than I guess I am the better seme"

"I'll prove to you otherwise"

And their lips met again.


End file.
